Baby, Be Mine
by Xaleria07
Summary: He had been waiting for this moment for ten, long years. "Raven," he started, getting down on one knee. "Will you be mine and marry me?" Who knew that by saying yes it would cost her more than a vow? RedxRae Sequel to 'Big Sister is Pretty'.
1. His Day

**Baby, Be Mine**

**The Sequel to ****Big Sister is Pretty**

**Hi everyone! :D I'm back!  
**

**For those who have decided to try out this story: STOP!! Unless you have read Big Sister is Pretty first, DO NOT READ THIS!! YOU WILL BE CONFUSED!! Go check out my story BSIP first! **

**For those who have read BSIP and anticipated this sequel, thanks for joining me!! :D I hope you guys enjoy it! **

**Disclaimer: I do not own Teen Titans. I do own my OC's and Red X's split personality, Ryan (huggles).**

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**Prologue- His Day**

"This is it Ryan," Riley told him, patting his shoulders reassuringly. "This is your day. No matter what people say, this is your day to shine."

"Stop over exaggerating," Ryan muttered, loosening his tie a bit. "You're making me nervous."

The twenty-one year old man looked at his reflection in the mirror, the butterflies in his stomach fluttering uneasily. He didn't think he'd wear such a fine, black, expensive tuxedo so soon. He didn't even wear clothes this fancy to work in his dad's big time company, Xander Corporations. It was nerve-wracking to think what came with wearing this tux.

"Having second thoughts?" Riley mentioned, crossing his arms as he inspected the nervous man.

"No, why would I?" Ryan looked at his friend sharply, although in his mind he was thinking again about his decision.

"Hey, it's normal." Riley reassured, shrugging. "I mean, this is your first time down the aisle. Of course you'll be wondering, 'what if?'."

Ryan groaned, turning away from the mirror and his friend, "Stop that! It's only making me feel worse. And it's too late to back out now."

Riley opened his mouth to speak again, but a man poked his head into the room, "Hey, we need to get going, Ryan."

Ryan tensed, his eyes widening. "It's time already?"

"Hurry up! She won't wait forever you know."

"Alright, alright! Just give me a few seconds." Ryan told the man, holding his hand out in 'stop' signal as he ran the other one through his black hair. The man rolled his eyes and left, leaving Ryan and Riley alone again. Ryan took in a deep breath and let it out, staring back at his reflection again. "Okay…I'm ready."

Grinning, Riley thumped his hand on his best friend's shoulder, "Go get 'em, tiger."

-X-x-X-

Ryan took in a deep breath and let it out silently. He nervously clasped his hands together as they became sticky with sweat. The slow piano music was agonizing, but not as agonizing as watching her slowly walk down the aisle, a smile gracing her face as in hand her father led her towards Ryan.

It was excruciating as to how fast, yet slow, things were going. It nearly blew Ryan's mind.

To think that once everything was over, he would have to call her 'Mrs. Xander'. It was both pleasing and frightening. Thoughts raced to his head, mostly circulating around how things would turn out.

Would she run away, scared? Would she say no? What if she tired of him later on in the marriage? Or worse, what if she had another man? The thought of it sent shivers down Ryan's spine.

Ryan looked back at the woman, realizing she had already reached the altar. This was it. The moment of fate had come.

-X-x-X-

"CHEERS!" Everyone screamed happily as they held up their glasses of champagne and juice to applaud the newly married couple.

"And now," Vincent Xander called out into the microphone, his blue eyes twinkling and a wide smile on his face which deceived one of his real age. "My son, Ryan, would like to say a few words."

Everyone quieted as Ryan walked up the stage, confident on the outside but anything but on the inside. He cleared his throat, the glass of expensive champagne still in hand, and spoke, "First of all, I'd like to thank everyone on coming on such short notice. I'd also like to thank those who contributed to making this wedding a success; everything's just wonderful. And most of all…" Ryan trailed off, his eyes searching through the crowd for her eyes.

Once he found her, he settled on them, a serious look in his blue eyes, "I'd like to thank you, Annie." The said girl smiled, and Ryan thought she looked beautiful in her white gown with that angelic smile on her face.

"You made a big difference in my life," Ryan continued. "I mean, without you, James might still be a player breaking poor girl's hearts and innocent, little me would have to witness the horrors of it." The crowd burst out laughing at that as the said man sitting beside Annie blushed.

Ryan smiled, more confident now, "Really, I'm happy James found you. You are the reason he was able to shape up and finally be happy. I find that I'm ecstatic to now call you 'cousin'. Cheers to you and congrats on your marriage!"

Everyone cheered along with Ryan, raising their glasses again.

"And thanks to my best man and cousin, Ryan!" James called out, and everyone once again cheered and raised their glasses before drinking.

Ryan smiled, looking at the happy couple as they mingled and stared at each other lovingly when they could.

_Ah, _he thought with a sigh, _James is one lucky guy._

Refilling his glass, Ryan loosened his tie fully and walked off somewhere. _I hope that someday I can be in his shoes._

Ryan finally found a secluded spot away from the noise of the wedding. He sighed again as he sat down on a bench. Looking back at the tent that held the happy couple, Ryan again thought of how lucky James was.

_It must be great to finally call the one you love your own._ Ryan thought as he turned the glass slowly in his hands, watching the liquid in it move. _For me, I'll have to wait a little more. Oh well, what's a few more months to ten years of waiting? _

Looking back at the glass, Ryan sighed again. "Cheers," he muttered sadly, downing the drink.

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**Hehe, I bet I got some you there, huh? ;) Of course I wouldn't make Ryan marry someone else…maybe. :p We'll just have to see now won't we? XD **

**Darn, I'm so evil…**

**Anyway, hoped you guys enjoyed the prologue! The next chapter will be posted…well…soon I hope! :)**

**Ciao,**

**Xaleria**


	2. Meetings

**¡Hola mi amigos! :D**

**Thanks so much for the reviews! It was great to see some new people and some old people (I think? Sorry my memory's not really good right now. XD)! :) Hope you guys enjoy this chapter!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own TT. All I own are my own OCs. And Ryan. (snatches Ryan) He's mine! LoL ;p**

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**Chapter 1- Meetings  
**

Ryan wondered what was taking them so long. He looked at one statue of an Egyptian cat wearing a fancy collar and sighed, bored. He stood in the Egyptian section of Jump City Museum of History waiting for the Titans to come. He had tripped the alarm quite a while ago, alerting them that a thief had broken in. That thief was none other than Ryan, attired in the Red X costume he had stolen from Robin ten years ago.

After his eleventh birthday, the fated day that Raven became his birthday present, Ryan couldn't see Raven anymore. So Ryan had stolen the Red X suit, the only real thing he had stolen through his thievery years, and pretended to be a thief just to see Raven. At first, he just broke into places, made the Titans separate, and just see Raven. But soon that became boring and Robin would sometimes ignore the calls, thinking they were false alarms again because Ryan had never shown himself to them. That's when he appeared in front of all of the Titans for the first time.

It was fun to fight the Titans Ryan had found out, and rewarding when afterwards he would get to see Raven. The best part about running around as X was that Ryan had been able to seduce Raven and finally convince her to go out with him when he turned eighteen. They had been a happy couple since then.

"Jeez, looks like the Titans are really getting old," Ryan muttered, stretching. "I could have robbed this entire place and get away before they got here."

"Too bad you won't be getting away, X." Ah, there was Nightwing's cue. Seriously, ten years later and he still said cheesy one-liners.

Smirking, Ryan turned around while clasping his hands behind his back, facing the Titans all prepared to fight him. "You really need to stop with the one-liners, kid." Skillfully pulling out several shuriken, he threw them towards the Titans feet to make them jump. Jumping himself, Ryan launched himself up on a rooftop beam.

He quickly flipped backwards as Starfire flew up, shooting her starbolts at him. With the many years of experiencing fighting with them, Ryan had learned a lot about the Titans. He knew their fighting styles and even modified the gadgets Robin had made with the original suit.

For example, he learned the angrier Starfire got, the more powerful she got. But with that power, she also got bad aim. (Has anyone ever noticed that in the show?)

Laughing, Ryan teleported from his spot on the beam and showed up sitting next to where Starfire floated, confused. "You missed, babe." With that he leaned back and fell off the beam, grabbing it with his hands and pushing himself forward to kick Starfire, sending her flying into a wall.

"Whoa!" Ryan quickly let go off the beam as Cyborg aimed with his sonic canon and fired at him. Ryan winced slightly as the beam was crushed and pieces of wood fell.

_Ryan! _A voice suddenly shouted in his head and Ryan just barely dodged as Changeling, formerly known as Beast Boy, came charging at him as a rhino. Reacting quickly before Changeling could turn around Ryan pulled out a red X and threw it at him. It exploded, releasing a sticky, sturdy red goop that trapped Changeling to the wall.

"Aww man!!" He wailed. "My hair!"

_Thanks Rae, _Ryan thought, knowing she could hear him. Preoccupied with thinking of Raven, Ryan was caught off guard and Cyborg barreled into him, trapping him against a wall. "Ha! Not so tough now, are you?"

"Neither are you," Ryan gasped out as he stuck another X onto Cyborg, it sending an electrical shock through him. Nothing happened afterwards though.

Smirking, Cyborg bragged, "That's old school, man. I'm Electric Magnetic Pulse-proof now."

Smirking as well, Ryan simply said, "Who said it was an EMPB?"

Cyborg looked at X confusedly and opened his mouth to speak but was stopped when he let go of Ryan. His hands moved uncontrollably as he danced around, looking like any idiot.

"What the hell is this?!" Cyborg shrieked as his body moved unwillingly, dancing him out of the Egyptian section and to who knows where.

"Bye-bye," Ryan waved mockingly. He turned around just in time to block Nightwing as he came down on Ryan with his staff.

Nightwing narrowed his mask eyes and moved back, Ryan mirroring his movements. Silence settled between both of them before they clashed, Nightwing using his staff and Ryan using the enlarged Xs connected to the gloves. (A/N: Think the fighting scene from the episode 'X'.)

Ryan was shocked when Nightwing got his staff tangled in his Xs, pulling it down and breaking them while throwing Nightwing's staff out of reach. Cursing silently, he moved back to get away but Nightwing stopped him, landing a hit on Ryan to make him falter.

And thus a hand-to-hand fight ensued.

Nightwing kept trying to land punches on Ryan, but Ryan dodged and blocked them. Trying to gain the upper hand, Nightwing turned and sent a roundhouse kick towards Ryan, who blocked it with his right arm. It throbbed with pain but Ryan ignored it, seizing the chance to grabbed Nightwing's leg and twist it, making him twist around too. Using a large, sticky X, Ryan tied his foot to his back and his arms behind him, laughing as he watched Nightwing hop on one foot.

"Now you really do look like a bird," Ryan teased as Nightwing growled. He then picked up Nightwing's dropped staff and swept it under Nightwing making him fall and roll over.

"You really need to learn a thing or two, kid." Ryan smirked underneath his mask, knowing he was actually much younger than Nightwing. But Nightwing didn't know that. "Ciao."

He teleported away to the roof, not noticing the smirk on Nightwing's face, "He forgot about Raven."

Too bad Nightwing didn't know Ryan's real motive for going there.

-X-x-X-

"He's going to want a story." Raven pointed out as she leaned against the wall, trying not to show Ryan that she was really happy to see him when he appeared. She was failing though as a small smile lit her face while Ryan sauntered up to her.

"Hmm, how about you say I was so devilishly charming you couldn't help but to fall for me?" Ryan provided as he pulled off the X mask to show Raven he was smiling.

Raven rolled her eyes, but gave him a small smile. "Sure, that'll sit well with Boy Wonder. Are you trying to get me fired?"

"Hm, maybe." Ryan told her, sitting down and grabbing Raven's hand, pulling her into his lap so he could hold her. "After all, if you're not a Titan that means you can spend more time with me!"

"Don't tempt me," Raven replied teasingly.

"Isn't that the reason I became X in the first place?" Ryan smiled, burrowing his face into the crook of her neck and inhaling her intoxicating scent. She smelled like a Casablanca flower. "God, I missed you."

Raven smiled softly, leaning into Ryan, enjoying the brief moments she can have with him. Chuckling, Raven muttered, "If my friends saw this…"

"Hmm," Ryan murmured. "Speaking of your friends, when are you going to introduce me as your boyfriend to them? It's been three years you know."

Raven stiffened slightly at the thought of that. Introduce Ryan, who was actually Red X, to her friends? And not to mention that he five years younger than her. That was a disaster just waiting to happen…

"Not yet," Raven told him, wishing that things weren't as they were. If they weren't, then their relationship would be less complicated. However, if it weren't for how things turned out ten years ago when Raven became Ryan's birthday present, they would have never met and Raven wouldn't be here now. "I mean, it'll be hard for them to accept you…especially Nightwing."

"Of course birdbrain would object," Ryan muttered, becoming a little angry at the fact. He had never liked Robin. "But you're going to have to introduce me sooner and later…"

Letting go of Raven and standing up, a signal that their time together had to come to an end, Ryan pulled the mask back on. "However…" he started, walking away from Raven with his hands clasped behind his back. He stopped near the edge of the roof and turned on his heel, facing Raven. "Something tells me it won't be later."

Raven furrowed her eyebrows in question, "What do you mean by that?"

Raven suspected that Ryan was smiling underneath that mask as he shrugged, "You'll see."

Before Raven could call out to him, Ryan leaned back and fell over the edge, disappearing from her sight. Raven ran towards the edge and looked over. She didn't know why she panicked, knowing he would teleport away, but she still felt uneasy when he did that.

"That X," she muttered. Sighing, Raven turned to leave but was surprised when she found a pile of red Xs on the ledge. Smiling, Raven began to tie herself up with them; she was glad Ryan had remembered she needed a story. Having the enemy tie you up and escaping was the perfect story, no?

-X-x-X-

If you happened to walk into Xander Corporations one day and ask a secretary which guy was Ryan Xander the response you would get would be: "Oh my god! You don't know who Ryan Xander is?! He's only the most successful young businessman since his father, and some say he's even better! He's really great at handling the company, and although he can be serious when needed, he's actually a really fun guy! He has the perfect personality, perfect looks, and a hot body as a bonus! He's only the new IT guy."

Yes, that is what you would get if you ask who Ryan Xander is.

Or well, you could just look for the guy who would be running around in jeans and a wife beater, t-shirt, or sweater depending on the weather. Ryan only wore suits when he had important meetings, and most of the time he didn't because it was his father who went.

"Mr. Xander! Mr. Xander, please slow down!" Sighing, the said man stopped and waited for his right-hand-man and trusted advisor, Carlos Santos, to catch up.

Carlos was a pretty skinny guy having an almost girlish figure. And while his baby face, curly brown hair, and soft hazel eyes let you think he was only a teenager, he was actually twenty-eight.

"You really need to work out more, Carlos." Ryan teased when the Carlos finally caught up, bending over to breathe.

"You…need…to…stop," Carlos retorted between gasps, trying to calm his beating heart. "What are you taking to be so energetic? Steroids?"

"How did you know?!" Ryan laughed when Carlos gave him an incredulous look. "I'm joking."

Carlos narrowed his eyes, still suspecting his boss was on _**something.**_ What else would have him so hyped up at _4:30 in the morning_?! And it was even fishier because he had never seen Ryan so…happy. He was always either serious or joking around, but never happy. Never with a wide smile plastered forever on his face and blinding everyone with it. It was scaring Carlos…

"Did something good happen?" Carlos asked as the two walked at more normal pace towards the break room.

"You could say that…" Ryan trailed off, grabbing a pack of the coffee and starting to make it when they entered the room. "And you could say something good is about to happen."

"Oh?" Carlos lifted his eyebrow in question, curious now. "Like what?"

Ryan paused, turning on the coffee maker and then resting against the counter. "Carlos," he started slowly. "How long have you've been married to Claire?"

Carlos looked at Ryan confused, wondering why he was asking that kind of question. Last time he checked, Ryan wasn't even dating! "Well, we married when I was twenty-two, so it's been six years now."

"Are you guys still happy?" Ryan asked.

"Yes," Carlos answered. "We're still very much in a love."

Carlos looked back at his boss who had a wondering look in his eyes, one that usually never appeared in his eyes. "Why do you ask?"

"No reason in particular…" Ryan turned back to the coffee maker to avoid more questions, but Carlos, having been stuck with Ryan since he started working here, knew what he was doing.

"Answer the question, Ryan," Carlos said, closing in closer to him with a wild curious look on his face. "Why do you ask?"

"It's nothing, really," Ryan replied, smiling to look innocent but it wasn't working.

"Really?" Carlos had that 'yeah right' look on his face.

"Really," Ryan said more seriously this time. "And if you make me answer I'll demote you."

Carlos's eyes widened, "That's cheating! You can't use your position's power for those kind of things! And I'm still older than you! Show some respect!"

"I can still kick your butt any day," Ryan reminded him with a smirk as he poured himself a cup of coffee and drank.

"So?" Carlos fumed, crossing his arms angrily knowing that Ryan was smirking. The angry look disappeared quickly through as his own smirk stretched across his face, "Beta."

Ryan almost choked on his coffee. He stared at Carlos his eyes growing wide as did the smirk on Carlos's face. "I bet your dad would be pretty mad to find out it was you who crashed his computer the night before he had to turn in his work."

"Hey! I helped him! I compensated for that!" Ryan argued.

"Yes, but he doesn't know that does he?" Carlos did a little victory dance in his head as he watched Ryan scowl.

"Blackmail is cheating too."

"Desperate times call for desperate measures," Carlos shrugged.

Ryan arched his eyebrow, "You're that desperate to know?"

"Yes," Carlos answered honestly. "I'm a very curious person."

"You mean nosy," Ryan muttered under his breath. Sighing, Ryan told him, "Fine, I asked because…because I'm thinking of asking my girlfriend soon."

Carlos's eyes widened with disbelief, "You mean…you mean you really do have a girlfriend?!"

Ryan glared at how surprised Carlos looked, "Of course I do. Is it that shocking?"

"Yes," Carlos once again answered honestly. "To be honest, I thought you'd be one of those playboy rich guys."

Ryan rolled his eyes, "I'm more mature than that."

"How long have you two been dating?" Carlos started the parade of questions.

"Three years."

"In secret?"

"I guess."

"Why?"

"Because she's afraid her…family won't accept me."

"Why not?"

"I'm five years younger than her."

"You're younger?!" Carlos looked at Ryan, surprised again.

Ryan sighed and nodded. "Yeah."

"And if you're five years younger…that makes her twenty-six!" Carlos looked at Ryan, "Wow, I never would have thought…How did you two meet?"

"We met when I was eleven," Ryan informed him.

"Eleven?!" Carlos exclaimed. "Then at the time she would've been sixteen! In a couple of years she would've been a pedophile!"

"I told you," Ryan rolled his eyes. "We've been dating three years so we didn't start dating until I was eighteen. Perfectly legal."

"But still…eleven?" Carlos scratched his head in confusion. "How could she have fallen in love with you then?"

Ryan paused, wondering whether he should tell him the real story or not. He decided not to. "Well, it's a little complicated. At the time, she only considered me as a little brother, but that changed later on as you can see."

"I see," Carlos muttered, still trying to figure it out in his head. "But it still sounds so weird…I mean, a sixteen-year-old and an eleven-year-old?"

Ryan chuckled, "Things were pretty weird back then." Finish the coffee in his cup, Ryan motioned for Carlos to move, "Let's go. It's almost time for us to start working."

"Ah, oh yeah," Carlos snapped out of his trance of thinking and followed his boss out. His mind, however, still lingered on the thought of Ryan's mysterious girlfriend. _Who could she be? _

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**So yeah, the conversation with Carlos was random, but I wanted to make this chapter longer, so I gave you a kind of look into Ryan's work life and introduced Carlos (Who I really like writing! :D He's so blunt, it's hilarious! XD). **

**Previously this chapter was going to be different…but I decided to make it chapter two instead! :D So I have most of it written up meaning it'll be posted soon! **

**Also, I apologize if anyone found any mistakes. I'm sure I read over it at least twice, but I may have missed something. If you found any major ones, like a wrong name or date, please point them out to me? Those I really need to fix. Thanks! **

**Thanks again to everyone who read and reviewed!**

**Ciao,**

**Xaleria**


	3. Casablancas

**Raise your hands if you guys went to a "Breaking Dawn" Release Party at your local bookstore! (Raises hand eagerly!) LoL, I bet some are cheering with me right now or rolling their eyes at me. :P Yes, I do love the Twilight Saga (I stayed at Borders until like 1:00 am for my copy…I finished it just a couple of minutes ago. :D), but I'm not a crazy fan where I start calling myself "Mrs. Cullen". That's just plain scary…XD**

**And please forgive me for such a late update! I did have this chapter all written and polished up, but I was so busy this week I didn't have the time to post it. XP Summer's ending too fast…**

**But anyway! Enjoy chapter 2! I'm sure you guys will really like this chapter. :) **

**Disclaimer: Grr, these again…no, I don't own Teen Titans, just my own characters. (Meaning Ryan, Carlos, Vincent, Rona, Riley and practically anyone else unrelated to the makers of Teen Titans.) So please don't steal my OCs! **

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**Chapter 2- Casablancas**

Raven twitched, really itching to send Nightwing to a different dimension. One preferably light years away.

"Nightwing," she started off, her voice overly sweet and fake. "Can you please tell me why I am stuck babysitting while you guys are on an overnight mission?"

It had been a couple of days since their encounter with Red X, and Nightwing had acted like his obsessive self again, hell bent on finding X. He and the rest of the team were supposedly going to Gotham following a "lead" on Red X. Of course, it would probably lead to another dead end.

_Good thing villains decided not to attack tonight_, Raven thought to herself.

Her violet eyes hardened to a glare as she looked back at her leader on the large computer screen. "_It's only for tonight, Rae_." He told her with a sigh. "_Please, you're good with kids aren't you? You babysat that terrible trio last time, remember?_"

"They're better tempered than your kids sometimes. And I have a date tonight!" Raven threw up her hands, frustrated. "How can I go on a date tonight if I'm stuck watching Cyborg Jr. and the Tameranian Twins?"

"_Oh come, the kids aren't that bad._" Nightwing responded.

Raven gave him a dry look, "These are yours and Starfire's kids we're talking about."

Nightwing paused, "_They're not that bad…are they?_"

"You've been the victim of their uncontrollable strength and lasers haven't you?"

Nightwing did not respond to that. Instead he coughed and avoided the subject, "_It's just one night, Raven. And if you want, once the kids are asleep, you can have your date in the tower_."

Raven thought over it. It was risky, to have her date here. But it'd be even worse to cancel on him last minute just because of three kids. If only Nightwing and the rest hadn't just automatically decided to leave her here with them without consulting her first…"Alright, if you promise I can have free reign of the tower tonight with my date, then I will not kill your kids."

Nightwing burst out laughing, "_Yeah right, Rae. As if you would…_" He trailed off when he saw that serious look in her eyes. "_You're not joking, are you?_" Raven smiled wickedly, shaking her head. His eyes widening, Nightwing quickly agreed.

Raven turned off the computer then and sighed, looking around the tower. "Now…where'd those brats go?"

"Auntie Raven! Auntie Raven!" Raven was surprised when a blur of black came flying at her, knocking her backwards into the swivel chair she had just got off of. The back of the chair hit the desk and Raven let out a groan. Raven then sighed, looking down at the crying kid. It was one of the twins. Just like her father, Kari had black hair and blue eyes while her twin counterpart, Carson, looked more like his mother with his flaming red hair and emerald eyes. Other than those differences, the twins looked exactly alike.

Not to mention packed a powerful punch having their mother's powers and father's abilities. It was a dreadful duo.

"Auntie Raven!" Kari cried. "Carson took my dolly!"

Raven rolled her eyes at such a petty thing, but smiled sweetly at Kari. She liked Kari, for Kari adored Raven and always listened to her, but her twin brother was another story. He was rebellious, but when Raven got serious he listened. The only reason he did listen though was because he secretly liked Raven, although it wasn't really a secret. Raven wondered why she attracted younger boys so easily…

"Carson!" Raven called out in an angry voice resounding with authority. "Report to the main room, now! And bring Kari's doll."

After a minute or so, the redhead popped in, a scowl on his face. He huffed, floating in the air as he held out Kari's pinkly dressed doll. "Crybaby," he muttered.

"Carson," Raven warned. Quickly becoming quiet and tame, Carson murmured a sorry.

Sighing again, Raven lectured the two on behaving and then sent them off to play. "Now where's the third?" Raven murmured, wondering what Victor Jr. could be up to.

BOOM! Raven turned towards the door leading to the kitchen as it swooshed open, revealing shorter version of Cyborg minus the cybernetic parts. He was covered with some kind of batter. "Victor…what were you doing?"

"Baking," he replied, getting a finger full of batter and tasting it. "I heard about your date tonight and I wanted to make a cake for you to eat."

Raven arched her eyebrow, wondering what went in the mind of this seven-year-old sometimes. "That's sweet and all, but why?"

"So you and your guy can be my taste testers. I'm currently experimenting with mixing chocolate and strawberry together topped off with mint." Mini Cy explained, taking more batter and eating it. "But the chocolate and strawberry aren't mixing right, however, my mint cream came out good."

"Hmm," Raven murmured, wondering why out of all people Cyborg's kid had taken a liking to baking. It was understandable a little bit, considering how much Cyborg liked to cook, but he was horrible at baking. So it was a surprise when his son turned out to be pretty darn good. Maybe it came from his mother but haven't personally tasted Bumble Bee's baking, Raven wouldn't know for sure. "Sounds good, Vic. I'll look forward to it. But don't forget to clean up after yourself, alright?"

Victor nodded, going back to the kitchen and his baking creations.

Raven let out another sigh, turning in the swivel chair to look out the glass window wall of the main room. "I wonder if I really should bring Ryan here tonight…"

Raven blushed as she thought of her boyfriend. She and Ryan, however, had actually known each other since ever he was eleven. For his eleventh birthday, Ryan had requested her as a birthday present. And to everyone's surprise, heck even hers, she ended up being his present for four days.

Over the four days, Raven had come to have a special place in her heart for Ryan, except at the time she didn't know whether it was just sisterly or actually romantic. Also during the time she had spent with him, he was kidnapped and she had rescued him furthering their feelings for one another. But Raven was still undecided.

To add to her emotional problems, afterwards Ryan had stolen the Red X suit and chased after her. And soon, Raven just couldn't say no to him. Of course, being the Titan she is, Raven obeyed the law (haha) and didn't date him until it was no longer illicit.

It still made Raven uneasy that they were five years apart, and that he was younger. But she had discovered over their relationship and through the years they have known each other that she really did love him.

Raven groaned, shutting her eyes tightly as her emotions ran wild. They always did that whenever Ryan came up. In fact, Raven never acted like her usual self around Ryan. Or maybe she did, she just never acted her usual self around the Titans. Who knows?

Raven was taken out of her thoughts when her cell phone (yes, she has one) rang. "Hello?" she picked it up.

"_Raven!_" Raven's heart almost jumped out as she heard his voice.

"Ryan!" Trying to keep the blush from entering her face, she quickly said, "What a coincidence. I was just thinking about you."

_Ugh, can you say 'lame'? I can't believe I said that. _Raven thought, biting her lip. _I can't believe I'm actually thinking and worrying like this! I sound like some preppy high school girl._

Ryan chuckled on the other end, "_Really? Nice to know I'm always on your mind because you're always on mine._"

Raven chuckled, "That's cheesier than Robin's one-liners (had to add that again XD)."

"_But it's better than birdbrain's, right?_" Ryan said as Raven chuckled again,"_Oh come on, that was a good line!_"

"Whatever," Raven replied, still chuckling. "Listen, about our date tonight…"

Ryan became silent on the other end. "_…You're not canceling…are you?_"

"No," Raven reassured. Ryan let out a sigh of relief on the other end. "But I'm stuck at the tower babysitting the twins and Cy's kid, so I can't leave. However, Nightwing promised I can have free reign over the tower tonight while the kids are asleep. So if you don't mind coming over here, the date's still on." (Uh…a little OOC, sorry.)

"_I don't mind at all! As long as I get to see you today,_" Ryan quickly said.

Raven softly smiled, wondering how lucky could she get by having a guy like Ryan. "Alright then, I guess I'll see you tonight."

"_At 7._" Ryan confirmed. There was pause on the other end and Raven heard some rushed words. "_I have to go to a meeting now, Raven. But listen! I have…well, something important to tell you today. So be prepared._"

_Something important? _Raven thought, wondering what it could be. "Okay. Bye then."

"_Love you, Rae._" Raven waited until she heard the click before she pressed the END button on her cell. She looked back at the blank, LCD screen and sighed once more.

-X-x-X-

**That Night…**

Raven looked at her reflection in the window, her eyes narrowing with criticism. She wore a midnight blue jersey gown that had a revealing back and a plunging neckline as it gathered around her waist, accenting her curves.

She didn't wear much jewelry, just some silver earrings. As for shoes, she wore simple strap, silver heels. She had her hair up, twisted up and secured with a metallic clip.

Sighing, Raven gave up on trying to find faults in her image. She wished Starfire were here, but then again Starfire would most likely find something pink for her to wear…

Shaking the thought off, Raven went through a mental checklist. They kids were all in bed and asleep, the meal she had made was hot in the oven, and Victor's cake, which he had successfully finished, sat in the fridge. Everything seemed finished.

_Now if only my emotions can calm down_, Raven thought bitterly as she scowled.

"_We can't help it! We're anxious!_" Rude snapped at her.

"_We're all wondering what Ryan has to say._" Curiosity informed her.

"_What if he breaks up with Raven?_" Sad asked, bursting out in tears.

"_At least we'll always love him!_" Happy cheered optimistically.

"_Shut up,_" Rude snarled at Happy.

"_I highly doubt he will break up with Raven,_" Intelligence remarked as she pushed her glasses up casually. "_Otherwise, why would he have chased after us in the first place?_"

"Shut up," Raven growled, silencing all of clamoring her emotions. "We'll hear the news soon enough so would you all just shut up? You're making me uncomfortable."

Having fixed her frazzled emotions, Raven went back to thinking about the date. She paced in the living room, wondering how it would go. She had never felt so nervous before. Not even when Ryan was kidnapped.

_Maybe I should call him and cancel after all,_ Raven thought worriedly. But it was too late when she heard the soft raps on the door. Quickly going over and nervously fixing her appearance, Raven took in a deep breath and let it out, walking towards the door. Her pale hand rested on the doorknob and she hesitated once again.

_What if—? _Shaking the doubtful thoughts from her head, Raven opened the door. Her heart thumped in her chest as its beating increased. Ryan looked positively dashing in the simple outfit he wore: a navy blue button up, long sleeve shirt, black unfastened suit jacket, black Dickies pants, and comfortable, nice shoes. He had a bouquet of Casablancas in his hands, offering it to Raven with a bright smile.

"A little bird told me that these were your favorite," Ryan winked as Raven's smile grew. She took the flowers in her hands, inhaling their breathtaking scent.

"You didn't have to, Ryan." she told him as she motioned for him to come inside.

"But I wanted to," he pouted childishly as he closed the door behind him. He came up behind Raven, wrapping his arms around her waist. "And they were so beautiful and reminded me of you. How could I resist?" He looked down at Raven, their faces close. Ryan looked at her violet eyes, his face growing closer to hers.

"I'll go put these in water," Raven murmured, pulling away from Ryan.

Scowling at how close he had been, Ryan sighed and stuffed his hands in his pockets, looking around the tower as he followed Raven. "Wow, this is the first time I've ever been in the infamous Titans Tower. Am I the first citizen to be honored with a visit?"

"No," Raven smiled as she saw that 'aww man' look on Ryan's face. "But you're the first of my…well, human boyfriends to be here."

"You mean I'm not your first boyfriend?" Ryan asked, his eyes wide with shock, as he watched Raven arrange the flowers in a vase she had gotten.

"No," she answered him, smiling wider when she saw his eyes widen more.

"I'm not?" he gasped dramatically. "And here I was thinking I was the luckiest guy in the world to be able to hold you in my arms! Who is this man who held you before me? Tell me so that I may kill him."

"You're too late," she teased as she set the vase as a centerpiece on the table. "I sealed him away in a book for not really loving me."

"Ouch," Ryan winced. "I almost feel sorry for the poor guy."

Raven rolled her eyes as she went to go get their dinner out of the oven. "Smells good."

"Oh Azar!" Raven jumped as she looked at Ryan who had silently come up behind her. "Don't scare me like that!"

Ryan smiled widely, "Oh? The great Raven Roth, infamous for being emotionless, is scared?"

"Only you make me scared," Raven told him as she went back to bring out the two warm plates of food she had prepared.

"Careful," Ryan warned, grabbing some potholders and taking the hot plates from Raven's hands. She muttered an 'I can do it' but allowed him to take them to the table. The two then commenced in eating and idle chat as they sat on the couch in the main room.

"By the way," Ryan brought up randomly as they finished eating, "Have I mentioned how gorgeous you look tonight?"

Raven chuckled, "Only about ten times during dinner."

"Hm, I haven't said it enough then," Ryan joked. Raven watched Ryan as he laughed. His posture was stiff and not relaxed as he usually was. There was something off about him tonight. During dinner he would sometimes get very quiet, and she had noticed that he acted nervously, more than frequently sipping wine. And he never drank too much.

_There must be something really important on his mind,_ Raven thought worriedly as Ryan again took another drink of wine.

"Is something wrong, Ryan?" she finally asked when he poured himself his fourth glass. "You seem…well, nervous."

Ryan blushed, realizing he had been caught. "Ah…well…" he cleared his throat and said more firmly this time, "Raven."

"Yes?" Raven replied, wanting to know why he was acting so strange.

_Oh Azar, is he really going to breakup with me?_ She thought with worried eyes, looking as Ryan tried to gather the courage up to say what was on his mind. He took in a deep breath then let it out, getting up from his seat and walking towards her. "Ryan?" she questioned as she stood up, looking at him confusedly. He took her hand in his and got down on one knee. Her eyes widened in shock, her emotions going crazy in her head as something burst in the background—they ignored that, however. She tuned her emotions out, too focused on Ryan.

"Raven," he started, pulling out a black, velvet box from his pocket. He opened it, and took Raven's hand again, breathing out, "Will you be mine and marry me?"

Raven's brain took a while to function those words, and her mouth opened and closed several times. "Ry-Ryan…I-I…" Raven stammered as her mouth finally worked.

Out of all of the news she had expected, this was not one of them. Raven thought about it though; she loved Ryan, and he loved her. It was right for him to ask her sooner or later.

She looked back down at the diamond ring, decorated with two diamonds on both sides of a large one and a silver band, in his hands. Tears of joy came her eyes, doing nothing to hide them, as she mouthed the one word she knew she wanted to say, "Yes."

Ryan broke out a huge smile, happily putting the diamond ring on her when he stood back up. "With this," Ryan kissed her hand, "I can happily say that you are mine."

Bring her closer, Ryan captured her lips, pulling her into a passionate kiss. Raven responded, wrapping her arms around Ryan's neck to deepen it. They pulled away briefly to breathe before Ryan once again kissed her, more heated this time. Raven responded all too eagerly, fire scorching her body as Ryan pushed her against the back of the couch, his hand tracing down her back and sending shivers of delight up her spine.

Raven completely forgot where they were, too engrossed in the passion between her and Ryan as she tangled her fingers in his hair. The clip in her own hair fell off as Ryan's own fingers pulled it out. They then teasingly traveled lower down her back, tugging at the zipper of her dress.

"Auntie Raven?" The two quickly pulled apart, turning red that they had been caught in the middle of…well, something. "What are you doing?"

Kari looked at the two adults with wide-eyes, wondering why this man and Raven were kissing like she had seen her daddy and mommy do. Carson, who stood beside his sister, glared up at Ryan not liking that he and Raven seemed close (A/N: It's only an innocent crush. This 5-year-old is not a rival if some of you are wondering. XD) Victor also had a curious look on his face as he stood behind the two children.

"Ah…it's…uh…" Raven trailed off, her cheeks becoming redder. She had not expected to be caught by two five-year-olds and a seven-year-old pinned down to the couch with Ryan on top of her.

"It's nothing you need to know, kiddies," Ryan told the kids, smirking. He would have said something more…inappropriate for their little, innocent ears but decided not to. Although it would be hilarious to know how Nightwing would react if he heard his kids talking about this.

_And only birdbrain's kids would have such bad timing,_ Ryan thought with an inward frown as his thoughts traveled back to the moments before. He had never gotten a response like that from Raven before, and it just had to be _**his **_kids to interrupt it. Another reason to hate the leader of the Titans.

"But why are you kissing like mommy and daddy?" Kari asked, still curious about what they were doing. "Are you married too? Can I call you Uncle?"

_Uncle? I was hoping to have kids of my own before I be called Uncle._ Ryan thought as he smiled at the kids. Although they had interrupted his and Raven's free time, he liked them. They weren't half bad kids. "No, we're not married yet, but we're going to be. And sure, you can call me Uncle if you want."

Raven watched with a soft smile as Ryan talked with the kids. He wasn't too bad with them; in fact, one could say he was meant to be a father. Raven blushed as she looked at the diamond finger on her finger. She started to day dream about having her own family with Ryan once day. It all seemed so perfect…

Raven gasped softly with surprise when Ryan suddenly pulled her closer to him. The kids had left, Raven suspecting that Ryan had sent them to bed. He smiled at her, "So…where were we?"

"Hmm," Raven mused as she pretended to think about it. She smiled teasingly before she kissed Ryan softly. Ryan returned her kiss, putting his hands around her and pulling her even closer to his body. He smiled to himself.

She smelled like Casablancas.

**xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

**Those kids are actually too cute!! XD I especially like Kari and Victor! Carson is more of a moody character, but he's lovable too. :) He just needs to know that Raven's too old for him. LMAO!! :D**

**Aww, I love Ryan. He was so cute in this chapter!! XD Haha, I should've made him drunk while proposing. But he's really alcohol-tolerant. Btw, NO UNDERAGE DRINKING! :D Wait till you're 21, like Ryan. LoL! **

**Anyway, thanks for reading and reviewing everyone!**

_**Replies to Anonymous Reviews**_

**anonuomas: **You're welcome! :D I'm glad you loved my story and thanks so much for taking the time to review!

**anonymous: **Thanks for pointing out that mistake and for taking the time to review! :D I'm glad you like this story as well as BSIP! :)

**Ciao,**

**Xaleria**


	4. Lies

**Heya everyone! Great to see you again! :D Especially so soon! Yeah! This has got to be my fastest update yet. But I wanted to post this so badly!! And for those who asked: The release party was awesome! :D As for "Breaking Dawn"…I don't want to spoil it for anyone. :) **

**I'm glad everyone enjoyed last chapter, here's number 3! And we get to see Nightwing freak out!!**

**Disclaimer: Don't own TT, just my OCs. :)**

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**Chapter 3- Lies**

Carlos looked at his boss, his eyeballs practically bugging out of their sockets. He was **humming**!

Ryan **never** hummed.

"So…" Carlos dragged out as his boss looked up from the file he had been reading. "I'm guessing something good happened last night?"

"Yep," Ryan nodded as he smiled brightly.

It scared Carlos even more. "I'm guessing you asked her and she accepted?"

"Yep," Ryan repeated, smiled wider. "You know, you're a good guesser."

"When you start smiling like a crazy idiot, I don't need to guess." Carlos rolled his eyes.

"Congrats through!" Carlos smiled, patting Ryan on the back. "You certainly look very happy. She must be one heck of a girl, Ryan."

"She is," Ryan smiled more softly this time.

"So have you told your parents yet?" Carlos questioned, looking hardly curious as he would be—actually, it appeared as if he had already known. Ryan didn't notice though.

"Of course I told them I was going to propose," Ryan replied.

"What about her family?"

"Ah…" Ryan trailed off. "They still don't know about me."

"Oh, that's bad," Carlos murmured, shaking his head. "You have to tell them sooner or later, unless you're planning on not inviting them to the wedding? I'm sure the father won't give you his blessing if you do that."

"I know," Ryan sighed, thinking it was not the_** father's**_ blessing he needed. "That's what I'm worried about. She's going to introduce them to me in a couple of days."

"Well, look at the bright side," Carlos told him as he put his arm around Ryan's neck. "At least you'll get it over with. What's the worse they can do?"

_Kill me,_ Ryan answered to himself as he thought about meeting the other Titans. _Or possibly throw me in jail. Or worse, never let me see Raven again._

Ryan muttered in response to Carlos's question, "You don't want to know."

-X-x-X-

Carlos closed Ryan's office door behind him. A smile crept onto his face as he pulled out his cell phone and started dialing. Waiting for the other person to pick up, Carlos paced impatiently down the hallway.

"_Hello?_" a masculine voice answered.

"Hi!" Carlos replied enthusiastically. "Mr. Xander?"

"_Carlos!_" Vincent bellowed happily."_Has everything been prepared for tonight?_"

"Yep," Carlos nodded to himself. "I called your wife earlier and she said the caterer dropped off the food and that she was almost done with the decorations for the party."

"_Good, good,_" Vincent murmured. "_I'm truly thankful that you came up with this idea._"

"It's no problem, sir," Carlos responded. "Ryan deserves it, and I'm sure everyone else is anxious to know who the lucky girl is."

"_Yes_," Vincent chuckled. "_They probably are_."

"About his fiancé…" Carlos started.

"_I'm not telling_." Vincent insisted. Carlos could almost imagine the smug grin on his face. "_You'll find out tonight, won't you?"_

"You and your son know me too well," Carlos muttered.

"_No, you're just nosy, Carlos._"Vincent laughed."_Everyone knows that. You're practically infamous for it_."

"Right," Carlos muttered. "Goodbye sir. I'll see you tonight."

"_Bye Carlos_."

Carlos sighed, pushing the END button and muttering 'like father, like son'.

"Excuse me," a voice interrupted his gloom. Carlos turned to a petite girl. She was pretty with wavy copper hair and hazel eyes. Her skin was a nice tan shade, and she almost looked child-like yet mature. "Were you just asking about Ryan Xander's fiancé?"

"Yes, I was wondering who she was." Carlos sighed again. "Neither Mr. Xander nor Ryan himself will tell who she is."

The girl smiled widely, a smile that was all too nice and wicked at the same time, although you couldn't really tell. "Really. Well, what if I told you that I'm his fiancé?"

"Really? You are?" Carlos looked back at the girl in disbelief.

The girl nodded, her smile turning smug, "Yes, I am. Nice to meet you Mr.…?"

"Carlos," he answered, holding out his hand which she shook. "Carlos Santos. I'm Ryan Xander's advisor."

"Really," her eyes widened in shock as if this was news to her. She smiled, "Well, it's a pleasure to make your acquaintance. I'm Hannah Whither(1)."

With her seemingly innocent smile, Carlos couldn't tell she was telling nothing but lies.

-X-x-X-

"Alright, Raven," Raven muttered to herself as she paced back and forth in the main room. "You can do this. All you have to do is tell Nightwing and everyone else you're getting married. How bad can that be?"

Raven paused in her walking, envisioning their response in her head. Most of it consisted of shouts of disbelief, negative comments, threats to critically harm her fiancé, and possibly maybe some weapons and powers thrown in. Groaning, she murmured, "Very bad…" She sighed, plopping down onto the couch, pressing her palm to her forehead as if she had a headache. She was certainly getting one thinking about all this.

"Are you hurt Auntie Raven?" Raven gave Kari a weak, reassuring smile. Carson and Victor stood nearby as they looked at Raven.

"No, Kari, I'm not hurt."

"Are you sure?" Kari asked, tilting to her head to one side with wide, curious eyes.

Before Raven could answer a voice boomed from the hallway before the doorway to the main room swooshed open, "We're home!"

"Daddy!" Kari burst out, flying towards her father and attacking him with a strong hug.

"I…missed…you…too…Kari…" Nightwing gasped out as his daughter squeezed his neck tightly. She really was so much like her mother.

"Kari," Starfire chastised. "Give your father some air."

"Oh!" Kari gasped, letting go of Nightwing. "Sorry daddy."

"It's okay, sweetie," he reassured her as he rubbed his neck soothingly.

"Welcome back," everyone turned towards Raven who looked strange. She fidgeted uncomfortably and looked at the ground, not meeting any of their eyes.

"Did anything happen while we were away?" Nightwing asked as he narrowed his eyes at Raven.

"Um…well…" Raven trailed off, trying not to look too uncomfortable, although she failed at that already.

"Daddy! Daddy!" Kari called everyone's attention as she tugged at Nightwing's spandex. "Last Night, Auntie Raven was kissing Uncle like you kiss mommy! And Uncle gave her a pretty silver ring! I want a pretty silver ring too!!"

Everyone's eyes widened at the young one before they turned to Raven, who was also taken aback by Kari suddenly revealing what she was having a hard time saying. Well, at least it was finally out there and they knew.

"Dude…" Changeling muttered, his eyes as big as tennis balls as he broke the silence and the shock spell that seemed to have been cast on everyone.

"Raven…" Nightwing started slowly, still trying to function what his daughter said correctly. "Is what Kari said, true?"

"…Yes…" Raven answered hesitantly.

Nightwing scowled, his eyes narrowing. Starfire looked more happy and bubbly than she did before, if that was possible. Changeling looked dumbfounded. As for Cyborg…

"I've been wanting to try this baby out." the cybernetic big brother informed them as he pulled out a large gun. He patted it with a wicked grin and evil intent in his eyes.

"Hold on!" Raven halted them in all movement. "You haven't even met him yet!"

"Which is exactly why I can't permit him to marry you, Raven." Cyborg replied with a frown. Nightwing nodded in agreement, mirroring his frown.

"Dude! I didn't even know you had a boyfriend!" Changeling was still shocked at that news. "How come we've never met him?" Starfire nodded to support Changeling's question.

"Because…" Raven muttered, fidgeting again.

"Because…?" they all prompted. Cyborg was still impatiently holding his gun.

Raven fidgeted again, looking at the ground, that blush she had been trying to fight painting her pale skin. "I didn't want you guys to meet him."

"Why?" they all asked.

"Because of this!" Raven gestured to them holding weapons, stupid faces, and wedding magazines…when did Starfire get those?

"Hm, she has a point." The rather supportive comment came from Changeling, surprisingly. "I mean, dudes, doesn't it look like we're overreacting?"

Everyone stared at the green elf, wondering where the sudden wisdom came from. Reading their looks, Changeling scowled, "Hey! I'm not always stupid!"

"I guess we did," Cyborg muttered as he put the gun down. "But still! I want to meet this guy. I'm not having any stranger come and take my little sis from me!"

"Who is your beau, Friend Raven?" Starfire questioned curiously. "Do we know who he is?"

"Um…you kind of do." Raven replied.

"Who is he?" Nightwing asked, still looking like this engagement was unacceptable to him. But when did he ever accept anything unknown to him?

"Well," Raven paused, taking in a deep breath and letting out. "Do you guys remember when Batman stopped paying our bills ten years ago? And that job offer we got for me?"

"Yeah," they all responded, confused now.

"Well…the kid I was supposed to be a birthday present for…he…" she trailed off, blushing, muttering something under her breath which they could not hear.

"What was that?" Changeling asked, leaning in closer to hear.

Raven became redder as she said more loudly this time, "He's the one."

There was silence in the tower before everyone shrieked, "WHAT?!"

-X-x-X-

Ryan sneezed(2), then looked around the room. Shrugging it off, he returned to his work.

**Titan Tower same time**

"No way! Absolutely not!" Nightwing boomed as he paced back and forth.

"You haven't even met him!" Raven repeated as she shot him a glare.

"He's five years younger than you Raven! And a citizen! You do know that if you marry him our enemies will target him? And it's even worse because he's one of the most successful, richest businessmen in Jump!" Nightwing growled, throwing his hands up in frustration.

"He can take care of himself!" Raven snapped. "He was kidnapped before and got away himself. Or do you not remember that?"

"That still doesn't mean anything!" Nightwing snarled. "And he's a rich kid, Raven! What if he's only playing with you? He can have a whole other hoard of women who are lined up to marry him! He can—"

Nightwing was cut off sharply when Raven slapped him. He looked back at Raven with the intent of yelling, but was stopped in surprise when he saw tears in the corners of her eyes. She did well though to make sure they didn't fall however as her face became red with fury this time.

"You don't **know** him!" She screamed at Nightwing angrily. "You don't know anything about him! So don't you **dare** assume **anything** of him!"

With that said, Raven turned angrily on her heel and walked away.

Nightwing stared after her, still shocked.

"That was harsh, dude," Changeling told him, shaking his head as he stood up. The other titans had sat down and watched Nightwing and Raven fight rather then get caught in between the two. Changeling looked back at Nightwing, "Even **I'm** not that stupid to say things like that."

"But she—" Nightwing started but the rest—even his wife!—stood up and walked away until all who was left was the three kids. Nightwing sighed and looked down at the kids. "Are you guys mad at me too?"

The kids didn't answer, they just turned and followed their parents.

Nightwing sighed again, "Great, now even my own kids are against me!"

-X-x-X-

**That Night in the Xander Mansion**

Ryan yawned, muttering, "I wonder why my parents wanted me over tonight."

He had moved out when he had started going to college and lived in his own condo now. But Ryan came back occasionally though to visit with his parents.

"CONGRATS!" tons of people cheered when Ryan opened the door. He looked at the party in confusion as his parents smiled brightly in the middle. Most of his close friends from school and work where there.

"Congratulations on your engagement, Ryan!" his parents smiled, bringing their son in and hugging him.

"Thanks," Ryan murmured, still in shock. "But really, you didn't have to throw this party for me."

"Nonsense!" Vincent waved his words away. "Besides, this was all Carlos's idea! A wonderful idea, no?"

"Carlos…" Ryan narrowed his eyes and looked for the said man. He spotted him in a corner. Carlos smiled innocently and held up a champagne glass to cheer him. "Should've guessed."

"Really, when we heard you were going to propose, we were so happy!" Rona squealed. "I've always wanted a daughter-in-law!"

"Well, I'm glad you're happy," Ryan replied as he greeted some of his friends.

"Ryan! My man!" Ryan was abruptly torn away from his parents—who then disappeared to let all the 'young ones' enjoy the party—when Riley threw his arm around his neck. Riley smiled, although his smile looked a little strained instead of casual like it usually was. Ryan barely noticed though as Riley ruffled his hair, "You! Why didn't you tell me you were dating?!"

"Because I didn't want guys like you to steal my girl," he joked.

"Oh come on," Riley laughed, punching his best friend lightly. "We're all best buds! You should've told us sooner that you and Hannah were dating! And now you're going to marry? Who am I going to take to strip clubs now?"

Riley burst out laughing, those too sounding off a little but barely noticeable, as Ryan looked at him confused. "What did you say?"

Riley stopped laughing, looking at Ryan confused, "Strip clubs? You know, where people go to watch girls str—"

"I know what a strip club is!" Ryan snapped, growing confused and angry that he was. He hated being in the dark. "I meant the part about me and Hannah? I was never dating Hannah and I'm not marrying her either."

"What?" Riley was confused again, his face also showing a little relief and concern. "But she's going around telling people how you two were secretly dating and all."

"What?!" Now Ryan was mad. Is that what everyone believed here? What a load of bull they were believing! He **hated** lies. And he really hated to think that people were stupid enough to believe them.

"HOLD UP!" He yelled, halting all motion of the party. He looked around as everyone stared at him, surprised and confused. "How many of you here believe that I am engaged to Hannah Whither?"

Everyone—heck even Carlos, who he least expected to actually believe, but once he thought about it Carlos ate up any gossip he could get his hands on—raised their hands. "**That**…is a lie."

Everyone now looked even more confused, and turned to look at the source of the lies.

Ryan glared at her, "Why are you spreading lies like that Hannah?"

For someone on the spotlight, she kept a cool composure, "Isn't it true, darling? You proposed to me."

"Like hell I did," Ryan snapped, growing angrier. "You know I didn't propose to you."

"Yes, you did! See! Here's the ring as proof!" Hannah held her hand out, showing off a rather gaudy ring. Her eyes looked worried though that she had been caught.

"No, I didn't." Ryan insisted. "Like I would ever buy a cheap, second rate ring for the woman I love." Hannah became furious at that comment.

"So wait…" Riley started, thinking about it. "If Hannah isn't your fiancé, then who is?"

"Well, sh—," Ryan started, only to be interrupted by the sudden ring of his cell phone. He ignored everyone's stares as he picked it up. "Hello?"

There was a pause before Ryan's face became angrier. "Hold on, I'll be right over."

He hung up and put away his cell phone, turning to glare at Hannah again. He hated lies like this; it only reminded him of when he had been lied to before(3). "**That**," he emphasized so that everyone could hear him, "Was my **real** fiancé. And right now, she is being troubled by her family. So if you will excuse me."

Ryan made his way through the crowd and out the door, leaving everyone in stunned silence.

**xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

**Hmm, maybe that was bit overdramatic? But I needed to introduce Hannah. :P Haha, this is what happens when you lie. You get busted and humiliated.**

**Now I don't have chapter 4 all written up yet, so it might take a little while. But I'll try to get it posted soon!**

**Thanks so much for reading and reviewing everyone!**

**Ciao,**

**Xaleria**

(1) Hannah Whither did appear in Big Sister is Pretty! If only for a fraction of a second. You can find her in this quote taken from BSIP, Ch. 2 'Normality': "So no wonder you didn't want to hang out today. **Hannah** would freak if she saw you now. Especially since you're with an older woman." See, already in BSIP I had implications that Hannah would be jealous and had a major crush on Ryan. Haha! I'm good. :D

(2) There's a belief that when you sneeze, someone's talking about you. :)

(3) What I mean by this is when Ryan's mother used to 'lie' about her love for him. In BSIP, Ryan's mother spoiled him and treated him like any mother would, but in fact she was only using him to get money from Vincent. That is why Ryan hates lies.


	5. What's Best

**GAH!! XO I warn you, **_**never**_** watch shows where there are possible boyxboy pairings (and only those kind of pairings) when you're trying to write a romance between a girl and guy!! Now I have boyxboy pairings in my mind and I can't get the images out!! XI** **Ugh, don't shoot me…but this leaves a high possibility that I might try writing something with a guyxguy pairing.**

**But anyway, I'm back with number 4! XD**

**Before we start, I just want to say: YEAH BADKIDOH! I used one of your ideas you provided me back in BSIP when I was asking for sequel ideas. :D So THANKS SO MUCH!!**

**Disclaimer: Don't own the Titans, just my OCs. So please don't steal! :) Thank you!**

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**Chapter 4- What's Best **

"Oh dear," a little girl murmured as she squinted down at the scroll in front of her. She fixed the large, round spectacles atop of her button nose, squinting again to see the words more clearly on the aged paper as her hand, lit with her magic fire, brightened them. Her moonlight eyes then widened with shock, her mouth forming an "O". She grabbed the scroll with her shaking hands, as if it were now a time bomb about to blow.

"M-Ma-Master Reeves!" she shrieked, turning and running out of the room with the scroll in hand. "Master Reeves!"

The girl turned a corner abruptly, running down another hallway, then another, and another before she finally halted in front of two wooden doors. She took in ragged breaths from her run, and then straightened. Knocking softly on the door, she waited for the "Come in" then opened the doors. "Ah, Kat, what's the matter?"

"I-I—" she stammered at first, taken aback by her master's appearance. Her master, Tray Reeves, sat comfortably on a mountain of soft pillows, his loose clothes billowing with the soft wind from the open balcony windows exposing his bare chest. His jade green eyes stared down at her as his black bangs swept down to slightly cover one of his eyes. She couldn't deny that he looked…desirable.

"Yes?" he prompted, looking patient as he intertwined his fingers, resting his elbows against the pillows. He smiled gently at her, causing heat to rush to her cheeks as she let out a sigh.

"Uh…the…um…" Kat trailed off, her thoughts distracted as he stood up, sauntering over to her. He smiled devilishly this time, caressing her face and sending shivers throughout Kat's body. Kat's mind barely processed her previous train of thought as he walked around her, wrapping his arms around her waist from behind. He nuzzled her neck, inhaling the tempting scent of her skin. Pressing his lips against her neck made her gasp, "The will."

He stopped his movements, his eyes narrowing at Kat. "What about the will?"

"I-I found your mother's last wish," she finally told him, able to be coherent now.

"What is it? And what took so long?" he asked, now a look of impatience on his face.

"It was hidden for some reason," Kat explained, not sure herself why his mother had coded it and made it impossible to find. "But her last wish was for you to marry her best friend's daughter. It was also in your mother's will that you had made a blood pact with her as kids."

"A blood pact?" Tray hissed, his eyes angry now. "That can't be…I don't…" he stopped now, remembering something from long ago. "Who is the girl?"

"The daughter of the great demon, Trigon." Kat informed him. "Her mother was Arella, but she is dead now as well."

Tray's eyes widened, a smile forming on his face. "I see."

"Do you wish for me to find her, master?" Kat asked. "I heard that she had traveled to Earth some years ago."

"No," Tray shook his head. "That won't be necessary. I will go fetch her. It will be nice to see my future wife myself."

"As you wish master," Kat finished, moving to get out of Tray's grip, but he held onto her firmly.

"Don't leave so fast," Tray whispered in her ear. "I didn't thank you properly."

"Really master," Kat said meekly. "You don't have to reward me for doing my duty."

"Oh, but I must." He insisted, a twisted smirk forming. He put his face close to her neck again, inhaling as he closed his eyes in peace, "Besides, you smell positively…" he opened his eyes, and Kat was frightened to find they had turned crimson, "luscious."

Kat's tone turned pale white as she realized what he meant by 'reward'. Her body started to tremble and she barely opened her mouth to scream before he tore into her flesh, drinking the life energy from her. Tray enjoyed the scrumptious meal she had provided.

Dropping the corpse onto the ground, ignoring the blood and her frozen face of fear, Tray licked the last of the blood off of his lips. Watching his hands light with the fire Kat had possessed, Tray closed them to diminish the power. Smirking, he strolled over to a desk. Opening the top right drawer, and pulling out a photo of two little kids, Tray murmured to the little girl, "You're next, my lovely Raven."

-X-x-X-

Everyone watched with shocked, wide eyes as Raven stomped through the main room, lugging a bulging suitcase. After a few hours of cooling off, everyone had permitted themselves to be near Nightwing again, although there was a tense air about.

"Where are you going?" Nightwing demanded, standing up to be the figure of authority when he was anything but at the moment.

"Away from here," Raven snapped harshly, dropping the suitcase nearby the door. "My fiancé," she sneered at Nightwing, "is on his way to pick me up."

"You can't leave with him!" Nightwing growled, narrowing his eyes and curling his hands into fists.

"This is what's best, and I'm an adult now, Robin. You have no control over what I do." Raven explained to him, sending death glares his way.

Nightwing had nothing to say to that, because she was right. Fortunately however, he didn't have to say anything because there were hard knocks on the door. (How Ryan is able to get to an island in the middle of water with a car…I don't know. Imagine something.) Raven finally stopped giving Nightwing looks that could kill and turned towards the door, opening it. "Ryan!"

Everyone watched as a young man with casual, untidy black hair and worried, ice blue eyes swept Raven up to his arms, asking, "Are you alright? Did they do anything to you?"

He pushed Raven arms-length away, checking for injuries, ignoring that the other Titans were watching with curiosity and seething anger (cough Nightwing cough). Letting out a sigh of relief to see that Raven was unscathed, he kissed her forehead and whispered reassuring words to her as he glared in Nightwing's direction.

Brushing away Raven's protests to not approach Nightwing, Ryan walked up to Nightwing until they were only inches apart. Nightwing was surprised to find that Ryan was a tad bit taller than him, being 6'5 to Nightwing's 6'4. And the piercing look in his eyes almost chilled Nightwing, although he defiantly stared back at Ryan.

"Although I badly want to, and should, kick your sorry ass for upsetting Raven, I won't." Ryan stated, his voice cold and harsh. "It would only upset her more."

"Are you sure it's upsetting Raven you care about?" Nightwing shot back. "Or is it ruining your reputation?"

Ryan growled warningly; He clenched his fists tightly as he thought to himself, _Don't hit him, Ryan…be the better man here._

Letting out the breath he had held, Ryan smirked, shocking Nightwing. "You know what, I'm not even going to retort." Turning his back on Nightwing, he told him, "That would only mean I stoop to your level."

Nightwing snarled, his hands tight. Unable to hold in the anger, he vented, moving to pull out his staff and bring it down on Ryan. But again, Nightwing was shocked when Ryan turned, blocking Nightwing's staff with his arm. Nightwing had to fight the involuntary shudder that almost took over his body as he stared into Ryan's cold, challenging eyes. For a moment, a flash of déjà vu passed by Nightwing. This setting felt…familiar. Too familiar.

Like it had happened not too long ago.

"Nightwing!" A furious voice snapped him out of his thoughts as he turned to a red-faced Raven. Raven pushed Nightwing away from Ryan, yelling curses and threats at him. But Nightwing could barely hear her as he stared at Ryan. Ryan looked unaffected by Nightwing's sudden attack, as if this happened almost all the time.

_He acts like this is natural,_ Nightwing thought to himself. _And he knew what I was going to do…there's no way it was just reflexes alone that blocked my attack. But how did he know…? _

"Are you listening to me?!" Nightwing disregarded Raven and called Ryan's attention.

"Where'd you learn how to fight?"

"Nightwing!" Raven hissed. "That's none of your bus—"

"I took karate and judo since ever I was four." Ryan answered, steadily meeting Nightwing's gaze. "I was also trained by Kashiya Takeo; he was a Shotokan(1) champion back in Japan."

"Interesting," Nightwing murmured. "Did Kashiya Takeo train anyone else?"

"Not really," Ryan replied, narrowing his eyes at Nightwing. Raven too also looked suspicious. "He chooses his students instead of having students choose him. I was one of the lucky ones he chose."

"Do you know who else studied under him?"

"Of course, but most of them are dead now or halfway across the world."

"Really," Nightwing muttered. "Well, you've certainly caught my attention, why don't we spar sometime?"

"He won't be sparing with you anytime **soon,**" Raven emphasized as she shot Nightwing a glare. "Let's go Ryan."

Everyone watched as Ryan slowly turned away from Nightwing and helped her with her suitcase. Raven said goodbye to the other Titans, and then she was gone.

"I…I think I will go tend to the children," Starfire interrupted the tense silence with a strained smile. She floated out of the main room.

"I need to go…check up on something," Nightwing offered lamely as he frowned, walking towards his room a.k.a. "Dark, Deep Hole of Obsessions". All that was left was Changeling, Cyborg, and the awkward silence.

"She's…coming back, right?" Changeling asked out of the blue.

"Of course," Cyborg sighed. "Once she and Nightwing get over their drama, she'll come back. She has to. After all, she's still a Titan."

"How come you didn't attack Ryan when he came?" Changeling asked Cyborg. "I thought you'd make him wish he never proposed to Raven."

"Well, I wanted to," Cyborg muttered as he frowned. "But I kinda felt sorry for the guy when Nightwing started to attack him."

Changeling nodded in agreement, then let out a low whistle, "But did you see him block Nightwing's attack? Dude! That was awesome! I don't think I've ever seen anyone with such great reflexes!"

"Yeah," Cyborg murmured. "But didn't he seem kinda…I don't know, familiar when you saw him block Nightwing?"

"Familiar?" Changeling looked confused. "What do you mean?"

"I'm not sure," Cyborg responded, shrugging. "He just gave me this vibe. Like I had seen him fighting before."

"Huh," Changeling wondered. "Funny…"

-X-x-X-

(A/N: Because I want to make this chapter longer—and because Ivy asked and I think it'll be great to write—this is going to the scene right after Ryan left the party at his parents' house.)

**Xander Mansion**

Riley, and everyone else, looked at the door that Ryan had just shut for a moment, everything feeling surreal. It was like a scene out of a movie. One girl fails at snatching the great guy away, and the guy runs after the true girl of his dreams…

Yeah, movie-ish for certain.

After the spell of shock from Ryan's sudden leaving broke, everyone's eyes snapped towards Hannah. She blushed, realizing she had gotten all the attention…but not the attention she had wanted. Some people looked at her in pity, others in scorn, and others in interest as they started to gossip.

Riley was torn. While he was relieved that Hannah being engaged to Ryan was a lie; he was also pissed that she would tell such an audacious lie. But the biggest part of him felt sorry for her.

His heart was practically aching as he held his head, _What a twisted love story. I'm in love with the girl who loves my best friend who is now engaged._

_Ugh, my head hurts,_ Riley sighed. It was some whack love square (oh ho, he doesn't even know the real shape yet! :D) with one person he hadn't even met yet!

"We all knew you were lying," a voice sneered.

"What a bitch," another added. "You think you can get away with anything because you're rich and beautiful?"

Riley watched as Hannah glared at them, clenching her small hands in anger, although tears were clearly at the corner of her eyes. The girls laughed, enjoying Hannah's embarrassment.

"Hey, knock it off," Riley growled, angrily walking over to the group of girl secretaries.

Scared by the authority in his voice, and the hard glare in his eyes, the girls quickly skittered away like frightened animals. Riley snorted then turned back to Hannah, his candy green eyes soft now. "You alright?"

The party around them, although confused, had continued thanks to Carlos distracting everyone. In his exact words, he had said, "Hey everyone! So although we still don't know who the hell Ryan's fiancé is, why don't we have a party for the heck of it? His parents left, and Ryan's paying for everything! Hell! Let's call some strippers! The most expensive ones!" The response to that was many men (and even some women) handing Carlos business cards of the many high class strippers.

Of course Riley and Hannah had not heard a thing.

"It's not fair…" Hannah murmured.

"Huh?" Riley responded, confused by what wasn't fair.

"It's not fair!" Hannah shouted his time, although Riley was the only one who would hear her. Music had been turned on loud, the mansion vibrating with the beat. Riley watched, taken aback, as Hannah angrily cried in front of him. Her cute face became ugly with rage as she snarled, "What does _**that**_womanhave that I don't?! Why aren't I good enough for him?! How come I'm the only one he doesn't see?!"

She grabbed Riley's shirt, bringing him close, "Why Riley? Am I that ugly? Am I that unbearable to see?"

"N-no!" Riley sputtered, a blush coloring his cheeks. "Of course not!"

Hannah was quiet, the tears still falling down her face, "You're lying! You're only being nice to me!" Hannah turned, starting to walk away.

"I'm not!" Riley insisted, grabbing Hannah's arm to stop her. He blushed again when Hannah turned to look at him, the tears glistening in her eyes and making her more beautiful than she had been before to him. He hated it when she cried. He took her into his arms, embracing her as he comfortingly whispered, "Really, Hannah, you are beautiful. Ryan…h-he just can't see that."

"Am I?" she questioned, looking up at Riley. "Am I really beautiful?"

"Truly," he answered.

"T-then…" Hannah started, pulling away to look at Riley's eyes. She then blurted out, her face pink, "Prove it!"

"W-what?" Riley blushed again, startled by the cute face she had made.

"Prove it to me!" Hannah repeated, hugging Riley tightly and hiding her face against his chest. "Tell me I'm beautiful while you make love to me!"

Riley sucked in a breath, crumbling under her hurt, pleading voice and those wide, child-like eyes. How could he resist? He followed her upstairs, to one of the guest rooms in the house, loving her like no other man would.

"Tell me again," she begged, her voice barely above a whisper as she wrapped her arms around Riley's neck, their bodies pressed together.

"You're beautiful," he whispered against her lips before he placed them against his own.

_Yes, _Hannah thought with a grin as she responded to his kiss. _If I can't get Ryan, then his best friend is the best next thing. However…_she smiled at Riley, reassuring him falsely that he was the only man she could ever love. _That doesn't mean I'm giving up on what's best._

**xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

**AWW!! X( I can't believe I made Hannah toy with Riley…b-but I have to!! No matter how much it pains me…**

**Well, thank you for reading and reviewing! (Flames are now welcome! :D I'm sure a couple of people might want to torch me after what I wrote...)**

**Oh, and I was able to write up to...chapter 6 I believe, so I'll be doing some fast updates. :D**

(1) Whoops, I forgot to add this earlier. But Shotokan is a style of karate that's really awesome. :) It's supposedly has some killer positions and moves as well.

**Ciao,**

**Xaleria**


	6. Bring Your Fiancée to Work Day

**I'll apologize ahead of time because in chapter…well, Raven may seem **_**very **_**OOC. I know I should at least try to keep her IC, but I don't know how else to write this chapter. Besides, think of it as like when she was Ryan's birthday present. Meaning, imagine she had a power inhibitor on and her powers don't interfere much. :D**

**And now, here's chapter 5.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own TT…but I claim proud ownership of my OCs!!**

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**Chapter 5- Bring your Fiancé to Work Day**

Raven looked around the place she would temporarily call home when Ryan switched the lights on. It was big enough for two people, having a spacious living room next to a kitchen nook and door leading to the bedroom while another led to a bathroom. It was clean, the design generic. She let out a breath, smiling softly. Although it wasn't really her taste, she found that she liked it.

"You can have the room, Raven." Ryan told her, bringing her suitcase inside and closing the front door.

"Where will you sleep then?" Raven asked, looking around to see if there was another room.

"Ah, the sofa folds out into a bed." Ryan informed her, opening the bedroom door.

Raven frowned, "I feel kind of guilty…I mean, it's your home, Ryan."

Ryan laughed, "Raven, we're going to get married, and married couples share. So what's mine is yours." He winked, telling her, "Better get used to that."

Raven fought the urge to blush, still feeling kind of guilty for taking Ryan's room. But he had said 'what's mine is yours' so she innocently offered without thinking, "Then why don't we share the room?"

There was a pause throughout the condo before Raven realized the meaning of her words. But it was too late. She heard Ryan suck in a breath and looked up at him, finding him frozen mid-step as his face became red.

"Ah…no, I didn't mean…" Raven tried to cover up lamely, her cheeks having a light tint of pink.

"I-I know…" Ryan replied, still flustered over Raven's words. He hadn't seen that coming.

There was another awkward silence, and the two looked anywhere but at each other. It was funny how earlier that week when Ryan had proposed they had gotten so close…and now that they had the perfect opportunity they were both shy about it.

They were alone, engaged and in love, and no annoying super human kids to bug them…the ideas that Lust made to pop up in Raven's head.

"W-wh-why don't I just take the couch instead?" Raven moved towards the couch, saying, "I really don't mind a-and it's your house anyway, Ryan. I don't want to be a burd—"

Raven was stopped when Ryan came up behind her, trapping her in his arms. "I think the bed's big enough for two," he whispered in her ear.

It took all Raven had to make sure nothing exploded as her emotions became overwhelmed. They ran crazy in her head, causing an uproar to Ryan's sudden advance.

But her insane emotions were nothing compared to the feeling of her heartbeat increasing along with the temperature. The room was almost stifling, and she wondered if Ryan had sneakily turned off the air conditioner or something. It also didn't help that he was breathing down at her, warming her up more as it overwhelmed her with his spicy scent that she loved.

With Lust working in her head, she threw in sensory images of that mixed in with rustling silk sheets, unsightly moans, and the intense heat of their bodies pressing together in passion…

_Damn you Lust!! _Raven swore as her body shook a little, almost giving into the temptation.

Raven took in a deep breath and let out, trying to steady her mind and body. She opened her mouth to say something, whether to agree and continue this is in the bedroom…or disagree and wait until later. But she didn't have to choose as the doorbell rang, interrupting the mood.

The two looked at each other, confused now, although Ryan also looked a tad bit irritated. "I'll kill whoever it is," he muttered as he unwillingly let go of Raven and stomped to the door.

Raven almost collapsed in relief. She wasn't sure if she'd be able to say no with Ryan so close and Lust tempting her inside her head. Why hadn't she been able to control herself like she usually did?

Ryan was frowning when he returned with a paper in hand. He became confused though as he watched Raven slowly walk over and plop down onto the couch, taking in a deep breath and letting it out slowly.

"It's not fair you know…" she muttered from the couch, looking at Ryan. He arched his eyebrow in question and sat down next to her, stuffing the paper into his pant's pocket.

"What's not fair?"

"You!" She said, pouting a little. She was frustrated that she had lost control. It was only around Ryan where her emotions went so crazy she couldn't handle them. Why was he the only one out of them who seemed calm most of the time? How come Raven couldn't be like him?

Ryan chuckled, amused but still confused, "What?"

Raven sighed, leaning back into the couch more. "You're always seem so…relaxed when you're around me. How come whenever I'm around you, you drive me crazy to the point of where I can't control my emotions, but you…you're always so tranquil"

"It makes me jealous sometimes," she grudgingly admitted. "You always have more self control."

To her surprise, Ryan burst out laughing.

"What?" Raven snapped, frowning. "What's so funny?"

"You!" Ryan pointed out, still laughing. He wiped the tears that had formed in the corner of his eyes from laughing too hard and managed to say, "You think I have more self control than you?"

He stopped laughing, although his eyes still were, "Raven, sometimes I wish you could see how crazy you drive me." He smiled softly now, caressing her cheek. "It's amazing how I didn't attack you so many years ago."

Raven's eyes widened, her cheeks becoming pink again, as she looked away and muttered "I'm not that great…"

Ryan groaned, "You don't see yourself too clearly, Raven." He took her face into his hands, forcing her to look at him in the eyes. "You're beautiful," he whispered to her. "So beautiful that I sometimes wonder what you're doing with the guy like me."

"Maybe you're not seeing yourself clearly as well," Raven shot back, giving Ryan a small smile.

"Hmm, nah," Ryan smiled, taking Raven into his arms, their faces close to each other's. "I still say you're the better one of us."

"Of course I am," Raven smiled cockily.

Ryan laughed and Raven joined in. They stayed in each other's arms, and fell asleep there as well, all night.

-X-x-X-

Raven stirred awake to the sound of something sizzling and the smell of bacon. She sat up groggily to find herself covered with a blanket and lying on the couch.

"Morning." Raven smiled at Ryan as he came over and set a tray of food onto the coffee table in front of the couch. He sighed as he plopped down next to her, smiling back. "Sleep well?"

"Very well, thank you very much." She replied as she took a piece of bacon off the plate and nibbled on it. "You're arms are very comfortable for someone so tall and well-built…"

Ryan laughed, a mug of coffee in hand. "That's because they were made to hold you."

"Cliché," Raven muttered as she took another bite of bacon.

"But you have to admit, it's a good line," Ryan winked, causing Raven to turn pink a little.

"Hmm," she murmured, picking up another cup that Ryan had set out. She sniffed it, not recognizing the scent, "What is this?"

"A special blend of juice I made just for you," Ryan smiled as Raven eyed him warily. She looked back down at the drink. "Oh come on, it won't kill you."

Still looking at the orange liquid(1) warily, she hesitantly took a sip. "It's good," she said, surprised. She took a bigger sip, and then set the cup down as she pondered on the taste of it. "Really good."

"Really?" Ryan smiled. "Let me try."

Raven was then surprised when Ryan grabbed her and pulled her towards him, capturing her lips. She was even more surprised when Ryan's tongue brushed against her lips, entering her parted mouth and taking in the taste of her. Involuntarily, she let out a moan. Ryan smirked against her lips.

Pulling away from her, Raven panting for air, he smiled, "Hmm, it really was good."

"Y-You!" she sputtered, blushing now. "You did that on purpose!"

Ryan only smiled, drinking his coffee, "Want to taste?"

"No!" Raven burst out, turning away from Ryan, although a little part of her wanted to say yes.

After a few minutes of silence, Raven felt awkward and asked, "What are you doing today?"

Sighing sadly, Ryan muttered, "Unfortunately, I have to go to work."

"Oh…" Raven murmured, kind of disappointed. She was hoping to spend the day with Ryan. It felt nice to be able to be with him like this since she had taken time off from being a Titan. (Without Nightwing's consent, but hey, did he try to stop her? His fault.)

Her disappointment was not undetected. "Would you like to come to work with me?" Ryan asked nonchalantly. Raven's head snapped to Ryan, her eyes stunned.

"W-would…that be alright?"

"Of course," Ryan smiled reassuringly at her. "After all, I am in charge."

"Besides," he said, cuddling Raven with a wide smile. "That gives me the chance to show off my beautiful fiancé!"

Raven blushed, although she muttered, "Show-off."

-X-x-X-

Carlos sighed, waiting by the glass doors of the company building that lead into the main room, where currently tons of workers were gathered. Everyone was curious as to what Ryan would do after the events of last night.

"Where the hell is he?" Carlos muttered as he looked at his watch. "He's never been this late."

Carlos turned back to the doors and spotted Ryan's dark grey Lamborghini (awesome car!!) coming to a stop in front of the building. Ryan got out, handing the keys to the valet with a nod of thanks. Carlos then expected him to walk up the office, but his eyes widened with shock as Ryan went to the other door, opening it and helping someone step out.

"OMFG!!" was practically imprinted on everyone's faces as they watched, eyes as big as saucers, a woman step out of the car and latch onto Ryan. And it just wasn't _**a**_ woman; it was Raven Roth of the Teen Titans dressed in civvies. She was easy to detect with her indigo hair and violet eyes.

What the heck was she doing with Ryan Xander?

Ryan opened the door, eyeing all the people in the main room who were staring at him silently. He felt Raven flinch from all the stares and hid herself a little behind him. Ryan almost wanted to laugh out loud; it was funny to see Raven so shy. But who wouldn't be?

The first one to recover from the shock was none other than Carlos.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Miss. Roth!" he took Raven's hand shaking it vigorously. "May I ask why you're here?"

"Um…" Raven started, confused by the sudden welcome. "You are…?"

"Carlos Santos," he kissed her hand, prompting a growl from Ryan. Carlos smirked, "I'm Ryan Xander's chief advisor."

"Nice to meet you," Raven nodded. "You obviously know who I am."

"If you don't mind me asking…" Carlos started, his eyes alight with that curiosity of his. "Are you Ryan's fiancé?" And blunt as ever.

"Yes," Ryan answered for her, pulling Raven towards him protectively. "This is my_** real**_ fiancé."

Raven was confused at the emphasized "real", not knowing what had transpired last night, but she didn't worry over it long before people were clamoring and congratulating them.

"By the way," Ryan turned to Carlos, a glare set on him. "Why did I receive a bill for strippers(2)?"

Raven's eyes widened, staring at Ryan with shock. "Strippers?!"

Ryan turned red, quickly turning to reassure Raven it wasn't what she thought. The people watched them, absorbed in the little lover's spat.

"Alright, alright! Give the poor people some space!" a voice bellowed from behind, and order was suddenly returned to the room as everyone turned to stare at the older Xander.

Turning away from Ryan (but not without giving him a warning glare), Raven smiled softly, "Vincent!"

"Raven!" Vincent smiled, taking Raven into his arms and giving her a hug. Even in his old age, he was still strong. "How have you've been, dear? It's been a while since we've seen each other."

"Well," she answered, looking slightly awkward since she was able to see all the people giving them attention. They were all surprised that Raven knew the Xanders on such a personal level.

"Well don't let me or this crowd keep you. I'm sure Ryan wants to isolate you in his office." Vincent gave his son a knowing wink while Ryan and Raven turned red. Hugging Ryan, he whispered in his ear, "Don't get the office dirty, and make sure you use protection!"

"D-dad!" Ryan sputtered, his face turning redder. Vincent laughed, quickly getting away before his son could harm him. Raven had to chuckle. He was still the same as he was so many years ago. As she looked at Ryan mumbling something about impossible fathers, she had to smile; because everything felt like it had ten years ago when she had first met the Xanders.

Well, except for the staring people, but she could learn to ignore them.

"What's with the crowd?" a voice suddenly called out from the blue. Raven perked up, recognizing the tone. It was more mature…but there was no doubt about it. That voice had to be…

"Riley," Riley called out in surprise as he looked at his best friend, "What are you doing here?" Raven turned, surprised to see that the boy she had compared to Beast Boy so many times had grown up.

He was now taller than her, but still shorter than Ryan. His blond hair, which had once been spiked up like Robin's, was now shorter and in soft spikes. His green eyes, ones that Raven remembered held that childish shine in them, were now hardened with adulthood. And he was not smiling like Raven had remembered him, but looked solemn.

"Ryan," he stated gravely. "We need to talk."

-X-x-X-

Ryan smiled reassuringly at Raven before he closed the door softly. He was sure she was out there worrying about what Riley had to say. Ryan turned back to Riley, his face grave.

"What's the matter, Riley?" Ryan asked, taking a seat behind his desk across from the one Riley sat on.

"Ryan…" Riley's eyes were tight, and he clenched his fists. "I…I need you to do me a favor."

"What kind of favor?" Ryan looked at his friend worriedly. Riley looked distressed, something he usually wasn't.

"I-I know this…is really selfish of me, Ry, but…" Riley started, looking at his fists. He took in a deep breath then breathed out, "I need you to cancel your engagement to Raven."

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**Hmm, I didn't plan to leave off there…but what a great cliffy!! (smiles evilly) Now you guys have to wait and see what Ryan will do…Muhahaha!!**

**But thanks for reading and reviewing! And no flaming either, yeah!! :D **

**Ciao,**

**Xaleria**

(1) The juice is actually just a blend of orange juice and cranberry cocktail juice. I've actually tried it, and it's not too bad. Really sweet and tangy, and I love sweet and tangy. :D

(2) The piece of paper Ryan received earlier and stuffed in his pocket…yeah, that was the bill for the strippers from last chapter. XD


	7. Never Easy

**Alright, usually I don't do double updates…but Ivy was giving me cutesy puppy pouts…How could I resist? XD**

**But anyway, here's number 6!**

**Disclaimer: No, I don't own anything from TT. Just my OCs.**

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**Chapter 6- Never Easy**

It took a while for what Riley said to process in Ryan's mind. "You…" he began, his hands clenched tightly together. "Want me to give up my engagement?"

His eyes narrowed to a piercing glare in Riley's direction. "You're joking, right?"

Riley bit his lip, shaking his head. "No, I'm not jok—"

Riley was cut off when Ryan abruptly stood up and reached across the desk to grab him by the scruff. The cold, harsh look in his blue eyes made Riley flinch. He had never gotten such a stare from his best friend. "Give me one good damn reason why I should."

"B-because…Hannah…"

Ryan twitched angrily, punching Riley. Riley landed on the ground, grunting as he touched the sore spot. He watched Ryan walked around his desk, saying angrily, "That's what this is about? _**Hannah?**_ You want me to give up Raven, for _**Hannah**_?!" Ryan picked up Riley again, prepared to punch him.

"She still loves you!" Riley blurted out, making Ryan stop midway.

Ryan sighed, letting go of Riley. Punching him again wouldn't solve anything anyway…Ryan massaged his temples, his eyes shut tightly. "Why?" He looked at Riley. "Why of all people are you telling me this? You're supposed to be supporting me, Riley."

"Because…" Riley breathed out softly. "I love her."

"And just so you can make her happy, you want me to give up Raven?" Ryan was angry again.

"Please, Ryan," Riley begged. "She needs you!"

"No!" Ryan burst. "No! She doesn't** need** me. She **wants** me! All she **wants** is me to be her little toy. She doesn't really love me."

"You're wrong!" Riley shouted back, standing up angrily this time. This time he grabbed Ryan, "You know how Hannah is!! If you marry Raven, she might kill herself!"

Ryan's eyes tightened. He remembered all to well the last time Hannah hadn't gotten what she wanted…

_**Flashback**_

"_What happened?! Where's Hannah!?" Her mother was panicked, looking at the two young boys who had been with Hannah._

"_S-sh...she…" Riley started, unable to hold back the tears in his eyes. He rubbed his eyes, sniffling. Ryan stood behind him, devoid of any emotions as he stared down at ripped shreds of red construction paper in his hands._

"_Where is she?! Where's Hannah?!" her mother cried again, grabbing Ryan—who was the closes—by the shoulders, shaking him senseless as her eyes widened with fear. "Where's my baby?! What happened to her?!" _

_Ryan was silent, his eyes appearing almost dead. "Honey, leave him alone," her husband tried to pry her away from Ryan. "He's in shock."_

"_My baby!" She screamed hysterically as she shook Ryan again, her nails biting into his skin. "Where's my baby?!"_

_Ryan tightly shut his eyes, unable to answer her as he clenched his small fists. Ryan had watched as the paramedics rolled the stretcher into the ambulance. He had seen Hannah. His eyes had widened, taking in her bloody, damaged body. She had been scratched up, pieces of glass jutting out here and there. Limbs had been in positions they weren't supposed to be in. And blood…there had been so much of it all over her. _

_It was same color as the valentine she had been clutching in her hands, determined to confess her love to a boy. It was the same piece of paper that Ryan now held the scraps, Hannah's heart in the same condition._

_**End of Flashback**_

"I-I can't…" Ryan murmured. "I just can't, Riley."

Riley glared furiously at Ryan, "You're just going to give up our friendship for a girl? You've known us longer, Ryan! We've all been friends since ever we were babies!"

Ryan didn't answer. Riley became more enraged and punched Ryan. Ryan didn't fight back or get angry. He couldn't. "Fuck you!" Riley cried out angrily, punching Ryan again. "Fuck you, Ryan! Dammit!! I can't believe you're doing this! I can't believe you!"

Riley almost pulled his hair from his roots, pacing angrily. "You know how emotionally unstable Hannah is! You heard what her parents said! If she goes through another breakdown…she'll…"

He didn't dare finish, and didn't have to for Ryan knew what the result would be. "I know…"

Riley's face became red again. He stomped angrily to the door, looking back at Ryan and hissing, "If Hannah dies, I'll never forgive you."

Ryan looked at the ground, touching the red spots on his face, "I don't think I'll be able to forgive myself either, Riley…"

-X-x-X-

Raven sighed impatiently, sitting outside of Ryan's office and waiting for him to finish talking to Riley. As she had ten years ago, Raven had an unsettling feeling sinking in the pit of her stomach. Something didn't feel right.

"I don't see anything special about you," a voice sneered.

Raven narrowed her eyes, turning to look at a small girl who had approached her. "Who're you?"

"I am Hannah Whither." She dramatically introduced. Spotting the silver band on Raven hand, she snarled, "And I should be the one wearing that ring, not you."

"Oh?" Raven said innocently, looking at the ring. She pulled it off, looking at the engraving on the inside of the ring, "Last time I checked, you weren't, 'My lovely Raven'."

Hannah's pretty face became twisted with anger, "Watch yourself, bitch. I have more power here than you do."

"Well, considering I'm engaged to Ryan, know his parents, and that people here seemingly like me more than you," Raven pointed out, spotting some secretaries glaring in Hannah's direction and practically feeling the hate radiating from them. They paused to peer curiously at the two girls before Hannah sent them a look that had them scurrying away. "It seems I have the upper hand here."

Hannah's face became red and moved to slap Raven, but her hand was caught by someone else. "Leave her alone, Hannah." a deep, husky voice interjected.

"Riley!" Hannah gasped in surprise, turning to see the blond boy with a swollen, red cheek. "What happened to your face?"

"Ryan and me just disagreed on some things," he grunted.

"Ryan did that?" Raven murmured, looking worriedly at the door. She looked back as Hannah cooed to Riley.

However, before she left, she shot Raven a nasty look and hissed, "You're only just a moment's fascination to Ryan. He'll tire of you sooner or later."

And although Raven didn't believe that, she couldn't help but take it into consideration and doubt.

-X-x-X-

"Ryan?" Raven called out softly as she pushed open his office door. She poked her head in, and frowned as she spotted the tell-tale marks on his face. Sighing, she walked inside and shut the door behind her, and then reached out to pull Ryan's hands away. "They're swelling."

"I'm fine," he muttered, trying to wave her hands away, but Raven held his face firmly.

"No, you're not." Raven said, looking into his eyes. Ryan seemed almost dead, and it was frightening her, although she tried not to show Ryan that.

"I'm fine," Ryan snapped more firmly this time, glaring at her and shocking Raven. He had never used that kind of tone with her. Seeing the shock on Raven's face, he quickly became guilty. Sighing sadly, he pulled Raven into his arms. "I'm sorry, Rae…I-…I didn't mean…"

"It's alright," Raven murmured, slowly returning Ryan's hug. The words that Hannah had said earlier rushed through her mind, '_a moment's fascination_'. For a moment, she stiffened, remembering that Ryan had told her he had become "fascinated" with her. Was that all she was to him?

Raven then frowned, shaking the doubts away as she realized that Hannah had been trying to plant a seed of doubt within Raven. She tightened her hold around Ryan, as if he could disappear at any moment, "No one said this would be easy."

"That's for sure," Ryan sighed. He tightened his arms around Raven as well. There was no way he was going to give her up. He would try to find a way to solve everything.

Even if it meant giving up everything just be with Raven, then be damn sure he'd do it!

-X-x-X-

"What a stupid, pathetic planet." Tray grumbled as he stuffed his hands in his pockets. Earth clothing was simply uncomfortable to him. How he yearned for his large, silk pants and matching shirt, but by the looks if it, it would have certainly made him stick out here.

Dressed as what Tray thought a normal young man dressed like, Tray opted for jeans (not too loose but not too tight), a black shirt, a white vest, and comfortable slip-on shoes. He was also bejeweled with some gold chain necklaces with charms at the end as a Rolex watch and wristband claimed his wrists.

He was still sticking out despite his human appearance.

"Is that a movie star?" Tray heard a group of girls whisper.

"He's so hot!"

"I wonder how old he is?"

"He looks single, should we try to approach him?"

"There you are!" a feminine voice called out. Tray grunted as a pixie-like girl latched herself onto him. She giggled, looking at the group of girls who were steadily making their way towards Tray. She smiled wickedly, causing them to freeze in their steps. Caressing Tray's face, she pouted, "Don't just leave me like that. Some girl may try to steal you away."

She sent a glare, her honey-colored eyes threatening, in the girl's direction, and watched as they meekly ran away. Chuckling, she let go of Tray.

"You didn't have to scare them like that," Tray muttered.

"Oh, as if you want human girls trailing you like puppy dogs." The girl flicked her wavy, reddish-brown hair behind her back, rolling her eyes.

"I wouldn't mind the meal, although I prefer female immortals to female humans." Tray murmured, smiling as his earlier meal came back to his mind. He could feel the churning in his stomach, telling him he was hungry again for blood—no, power he had felt coursing through veins. He tried to ignore it though as he asked, "Why are you here anyway, Lia?"

"I'm here to make sure you don't get into any trouble, dear cousin." Lia smirked at him. "After all, I'm more used to the human life than you are."

"How hard can it be to act like a stupid mortal?" Tray then bumped shoulders with someone and turned, growling threatening.

"Sorry dude, jeez," another guy mumbled, holding his hands up in a 'no harm' gesture. Tray growled again, readying to attack the guy.

"Let's go, Tray." Lia said firmly, setting her tiny hand on his arm and squeezing it warningly.

Tray grumbled, turning and leaving. "That's exactly what I mean," Lia scolded him when they were out of hearing range. "You're easily angered and don't think straight sometimes. If the humans were to know of our existence here on Earth it would be a massacre."

"Of course," Tray snorted. "We'd slaughter them before they even had the chance to fight back."

Lia rolled her eyes, muttering, "Immature."

Ignoring her snide remarks, Tray inquired, "Did you find, Raven?"

"I don't have her exact location," Lia informed him, clasping her hands behind her back. "But I know she lives somewhere in Jump City. It's only a teleportation away."

"Then what are we waiting for?"

Lia shook her head again, then motioned for Tray to follow her into an alleyway where they disappeared, unnoticed by the mortals.

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**Yeah, I know, this chapter is really short. I had a hard time trying to make it longer because the other stuff doesn't happen till later. **

**But anyway, I'm sorry it's short. I'll try to make up for that next chapter!**

**Thank you for reading, reviewing and just being awesome!! XD**

**Dang, I just realized my cliffy has no effect then...oh well, I hope this cliffy (is it even one?) suffices.**

**Anyway, I hope your satisfied Ivy, so no more pouts! ;) I'm still writing up chapter 7…so I have no idea when it'll be up, but I'll try not to take too long.**

**Ciao,**

**Xaleria**


	8. Let's Have a Talk

**I'm sorry this took forever. I tried to upload this chapter yesterday but the document uploader thingy was being dumb and wouldn't let me upload this document...grr...I had to copy and paste. XP **

**To be entirely honest with you, I wasn't sure about this chapter's plot. Then I had a talk with Ivy, the most awesomest (who cares if that's not a word :P) personality twin ever(!!), and she inspired me for this chapter! So I hope you guys enjoy it! **

**Thanks a bunch Ivy!! XD This chapter, is of course, dedicated to you as well as my equally dedicated readers! Thank you so much!!**

**Disclaimer: I hold no claims to anything but my OCs.**

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**Chapter 7- Let's Have a Talk  
**

A week…another week…even another…it was driving her to the point of insanity.

Normally, she would be sweet and quiet, brushing this off as another one of her husband's hobbies she couldn't avoid. After all, it had happened before, she could get through this.

But an entire month deprived of seeing your kids with your husband, of seeing your husband, of talking to your husband, of sleep because you're worrying about your husband, and of physical intimacy because of your damn obsessed husband!

Yeah, it could drive any girl crazy…even one such as Starfire.

"ROBIN!!" She screeched, her eyes alight with a green glow. Starfire grabbed the door, her hands bending the metal as she pushed them open, forcing herself into her husband's chambers, or as she liked to call it, "The Slut of a Room that Steals MY Robin!". The room's name also came from the help of Raven. Childish, but so true.

"Starfire!" Nightwing stared agape at the broken doors. "That'll take a week to repair!"

"Then spend that week you **_can't_** be here **_with_** your wife and kids!" Starfire snapped. Over the ten years, and with lots of tutoring from Raven, Changeling, and Cyborg, she had learned how speak English normally instead of "Ye Old Way" as Changeling put it.

"I'm busy," Nightwing waved aside. "I think I finally have a lead on who Red X might possibly be, but I need more concrete evidence."

Starfire's fists twitched, the fury coming back to her, "Red X? Is that all you care about?"

"Of course," Nightwing remarked stupidly, going back to his desk. "Right now, finding X is my priority. So can you just—"

Nightwing was cut off and knocked into a wall, making the wall shudder before hanging items fell to the ground making some break. Righteous Fury really did live up to its name.

"**You** are the most stubborn, arrogant, and obsessive person I have ever met!" Starfire screamed, her eyes glowing brighter. "Do you really want **our** children growing up remembering their father always being absent because he was too busy playing 'hero'."

"Who do you think I'm being the hero for?!" Nightwing retorted, getting up as he angrily stared at his wife.

"Do you think I give a damn about you being a hero?" Starfire snarled, powering down just a bit so Nightwing could see her enraged eyes more clearly. "You're supposed to be a **father** before being a **hero.**"

(A/N: So Starfire's a little OOC. See what happens when you have Raven, Changeling, and Cyborg tutor you? And personally, I'm loving her kicking Robin's ass!)

"I was a **hero** before I was a **father**." Nightwing shot back bitterly. There was silence in the room for a moment, and Nightwing knew then he had said the wrong words. He worriedly stared back at Starfire, "Star…"

"You…" Starfire started, staring at the floor as she clenched her fists. They shook with anger, her fingers itching to reach out and just wrap around his neck to shake him senseless as she cursed and threatened him…Raven had really influenced her too much.

Starfire held all that anger back, not really wanting to mutilate her husband, but the sadness quickly overtook her. Nightwing cared more about catching bad guys than his own family. He didn't love them like he should…"It's no wonder Raven left…you just don't understand."

"Star," Nightwing began, but his wife turned her back on him and walked away. "Wait, Starfire!"

"Discussion's over." Starfire stated firmly, walking away from her husband.

Nightwing's face was priceless as he stood there, dumbfounded, and wondering what his wife had meant.

One thing was for sure though…he wouldn't be invited into their bed anytime soon.

-X-x-X-

"He did what?!" Raven wished she was at the tower right now so she could go smack some sense into her clueless leader.

"_H-he d-does-doesn't l-love me!!_" Starfire bawled on the other line as Raven winced at her cries.

"Starfire, calm down," Raven tried to soothe, wishing she could be by her friend at the moment to comfort her. Although she was kind of glad she wasn't because then she'd have to deal with Starfire clinging to her and crying on her like she had the other times Robin had locked himself up in his room. "He does love you; he's just being stupid. You know how Nightwing is."

"_I-I know…b-but…_" Raven grimaced inwardly as Starfire burst out crying again. "_R-Ra-Raven! Help me!_"

"Look, Starfire." Raven stated seriously, making Starfire hush. "I think what you need to do is have a long talk with Nightwing. I can't do much; this is between you and him. You guys need to work out your relationship."

"_Al-alright…_"

"And Starfire."

"_Yes?_"

"You know you can kick his ass if he's one, right?"

Raven smiled to herself as she heard Starfire giggle on the other end. "_Alright, Raven. Thank you very much_."

"Good luck."

-X-x-X-

Nightwing eyed the door leading to his and his wife's room warily. There should have been a bright red sign that said, "ENTER AT YOUR OWN RISK…YOU MIGHT LOSE AN ARM OR TWO" because he definitely felt a hostile vibe coming from it.

Swallowing his nervousness, Nightwing dared to knock on the door. There was some banging and shouts on the other side before it became silent. A deep breath…"Come in."

Nightwing punched in the code and as the door slid open, he looked around the room. Nothing looked broken…yet. His eyes then landed on Starfire, who sat atop of their bed.

"Robin," she nodded, patting the seat next to her.

Nightwing steadily made his way to the bed and sat down next to his wife, still on high-alert. "So…what did you want to talk about?"

She stated it clearly and simply, "Our relationship."

"What about our rela—"

"Unless you want to see divorce papers, I suggest you shut up and listen to me." Nightwing frowned but knew better than to speak. It wasn't just divorce papers he'd see, but 5 pointed shapes only visible at night as well. He looked at Starfire as she continued, "Earlier, you disregarded me, and usually I would be fine with that. However, this time you have crossed the line."

"What li—" He shut up again when Starfire glared at him.

Once he showed no signs of arguing, Starfire continued, "Robin, do you know how unstable kids become if their father neglects them? How much I could become unstable if you're not here? I mean, we might as well be divorced! Whenever a new villain is out there, you obsess over them and lock yourself up in your old room, trying to find out how to capture them."

Starfire took in a deep breath then let it out, "I know how much the duty of being a hero means to you, but you have to remember you now also have the duty of a **_father_**. Do you want our kids to turn out like Raven? I'm not saying that to be mean to Raven, but you know how her father treated her, and look at how she turned out. Do you really want our kids to be lonely until they find someone else? And what guarantees that they will be as lucky as Raven?"

Starfire looked at her husband as he took that into consideration.

"Starfire, I doubt our kids would actually turn out like Raven." Nightwing shook his head. "I mean, Raven turned out just fine in the end, didn't she?"

"Robin," Starfire groaned. "Are you really that clueless?"

She didn't allow him to retort as she said, "Do you have any idea what Raven did to herself after her father? After Malchior? She **_cut_** herself, Robin. Mercilessly. I know, because I walked in on her doing it one day. I was frightened. She looked so unhappy and lonely. And now, when I look at out kids, I think, 'That can always happen to them'."

"And don't say it's just how Raven is." Starfire sighed as she saw her husband open his mouth to talk back. "Because normal people do it too. I've read stories and cases about those kind of people. And most of the times, kids' depression started with negligence from their parents."

Nightwing had no response. For once.

"And you mustn't forget about how I feel, Robin." Starfire added lastly as she twisted her fingers together. "When we married each other, didn't we vow to always be there for one another? I'm always there for you, Robin. I'm always waiting. But Robin, when are you there for me?"

The room started to feel stifling as the guilt choked him. It had taken a while, but Nightwing finally realized how much he had hurt his wife. And he felt horrible.

"Starfire," he started softly, taking his wife into his arms. "I'm sorry…"

Starfire had tired to hold in the tears the entire time she was talking to Robin, but she couldn't anymore. She burst out crying, wrapping her arms around her husband. "I-I mi-missed you s-s-so much!!"

"I'm sorry," was all he could say as he tightened his arms around her. "I'm really sorry."

They sat in that position for a while as Nightwing soothed Starfire until her sobs dwindled down to sniffles. "Better?" he asked.

Starfire nodded, her face turning red. "Good," he kissed her forehead and cradled her in his arms. "I'm really sorry, Star. I guess I went overboard again, huh?"

Starfire snorted, her tone implying, "Gee, ya think?"

Nightwing chuckled, stroking her long, red hair. "I'll make it up to you. No obsessing for a month. So I could make up for lost time. How does that sound?"

Starfire thought about it, then nodded, "Alright, but you have a lot to make up for!"

Nightwing nodded and Starfire smiled contently.

-X-x-X-

Ryan sighed, turning on the bed once again. It had been a little over a month since Raven had come to stay with him. They had quickly become adjusted to living with each other that it was almost a daily routine.

Wake up, Ryan cooks since Raven can't (but she's slowly learning), and while Ryan heads off to work Raven does wedding planning with Rona. They both then go home, have dinner together, and spend the night just relaxing with each other. And while Ryan loved every second of it, he couldn't help but feel like something wasn't right.

And it didn't help that his best friend refused to talk to him. Riley was still upset over Ryan choosing Raven over Hannah and him.

"Damn," he muttered, sitting up. He sighed again, worriedly running his fingers through his hair. No matter what he did to distract himself, he always ended up thinking about Hannah and Riley. They were his closest friends after all.

"Ryan?" a groggy voice murmured. Ryan turned his head slightly to look at Raven. She sat up, rubbing the sleep from her eyes. "You okay?"

"Yeah," Ryan answered her, his tone soft. He gave her a small smile, pushing back the bed hair in her face and kissing the jewel on her forehead. "Go back to sleep."

It wasn't long before Raven was peacefully asleep again. Ryan chuckled softly, brushing back Raven's hair one more time. She looked cute, her face serene instead of the scowling mask she used to wear. And while Ryan felt that love for Raven pounding in his heart, he also felt a kind of insecurity. Like this, seeing Raven and having her beside him, would disappear.

Why did it feel like everything was trying to tear them apart?

"Ugh," he groaned quietly, getting up from the bed. He needed fresh air to clear his head.

Reaching into his closet to pull out a sweater, his hand brushed against a different kind of cloth. Pulling it out, Ryan looked at the Red X suit. He hadn't worn it in a while, considering his reason for wearing it was now lying in his bed.

It wouldn't hurt though if he just wore one more time before he retired from being Red X after his and Raven's wedding.

Ryan silently slipped into the suit to not awake Raven, and then pushed open the large bedroom window and disappeared into darkness.

-X-x-X-

It was night now, and Nightwing was cleaning up his old room since Starfire had demolished part of it. He was doing this secretly since he had promised his wife to not be here. As he cleaned off his desk, he frowned at the papers in front of him. Since ever his meeting with Raven's fiancé, he had dug up the Red X file he had made ten years ago when X had reappeared.

_It's around the time when Raven finished her job with Ryan…_Nightwing's frown deepened. Everything was just too coincidental. Raven finishing her job with Ryan around the time X appeared, and Ryan having similar reflexes to X's.

And if Nightwing were right, and Ryan was Red X, he would need more tangible evidence. Nightwing looked back down at the papers, hoping to find some kind of clue.

From estimation, X was almost, if not a little more, as tall as Nightwing. Ryan was only an inch taller than him. Red X also favored karate and judo, the two fighting styles Ryan had said he had mastered. And there were a couple of other funny things…

Red X never stole.

Why not, Nightwing was still trying to figure out. But he figured, with Ryan being the richest guy in Jump, why even steal? But then there was the confusing thing, what was Ryan's motive for being Red X then?

And something even funnier Nightwing had never noticed until now was that Red X always faced Raven last.

Then…Ryan really was Red X…? Nightwing frowned trying to piece it together. If X didn't steal, and always faced Raven last…did that mean Ryan only posed as Red X to see Raven?

But why? Why do so much for her?

…Did he really love her that much? Starfire's words from earlier came back to his mind. _"It's no wonder Raven left…you just don't understand."_

Did that mean he didn't understand their love? Thinking more deeply about it, Nightwing realized this meant Ryan was really serious about Raven. If he would go to such extremes just to **see** Raven, he had to have an unconditional love for Raven. And as much as Nightwing hated to admit it, he probably would have done the same for Starfire had he been in Ryan's place.

And Ryan hadn't really done anything bad, except maybe breaking and entering. But since Ryan was careful to make sure nothing was permanently damaged, broken, or stolen, nobody had pressed charges. So Nightwing really had no grounds to arrest him on.

And he had a feeling Raven would never forgive him if he did so. But he was torn apart. One who just wanted to accept this, and the other who wanted justice served. After all, Ryan had still been their enemy…well, maybe not really, but he was still bad, right? Nightwing was so confused. He had finally come to realize the grey in between the black and white.

A flashing red light interrupted his thoughts. Years ago his teammates had complained about being awaken at night for only small crimes one or two of them could handle. At first, Nightwing refused to make a silent alarm for the small crimes, and then Starfire had the twins, making him concede. Nightwing looked at the computer, seeing it was just a simple alarm trip in a warehouse. He could go alone.

And Nightwing had a feeling he knew who it was.

-X-x-X-

"What are you doing here, X?"

Ah, how much Ryan would miss hearing Nightwing's loud entrances. Stealth was something he obviously hadn't learned from Batman.

"Just came to say bye, kid." Ryan informed him, turning around and clasping his hands behind his back. He smirked inwardly, "This town ain't big enough for the both of us."

"Are you sure it's not the fact that you have a deadline coming up that you're leaving?" Nightwing mentioned casually, for once not becoming angered and attacking Ryan as quickly as he could.

"What do you mean by that?" Ryan questioned, his tone also casual although he narrowed his eyes suspiciously as Nightwing.

"It means," Nightwing stated, taking a step closer to Red X, his masked eyes smoothed out instead of scrunched with frustration. "Will I be hearing wedding bells instead of break-in alarms?"

So he had caught on…

_Finally,_ Ryan snorted to himself. _Took him ten years to figure it out. Some great detective he is._

"I have no idea what you're talking about kid," Ryan remarked innocently, smiling underneath the mask. His hand moved towards the belt, ready to teleport away.

"Wait," Nightwing called out, causing Ryan to pause momentarily. His hand was still poised to teleport him if it was a trick. "Tell me one thing first…why did you become Red X?"

Ryan looked down at Nightwing, seeing he was serious despite the mask hiding his eyes. Something had surely changed Nightwing's perspective of him. Answering his question, Ryan told him, "I became Red X…so I could keep looking out for number one."

To his surprise, Nightwing smiled at Ryan. "Keep doing that then." Ryan smiled softly, relaxing. He knew Nightwing wouldn't do anything to him. At least, not now. "And X."

"Yes?"

Nightwing smirked, "We'll definitely see each other again. And maybe next time I won't be so nice."

"I don't doubt that." Ryan pressed the button, allowing him to teleport away.

Well, at least he knew that Nightwing wouldn't arrest him…possibly. And it had finally gotten through his thick skull that Ryan really did love Raven. This also meant he had Nightwing's blessing…right?

Ryan frowned, thinking, _Does this mean I** really** have to invite him to the wedding now?_

-X-x-X-

Riley stared at the angel beside him, wondering again if he was dreaming or not. The soft smile he wore for a moment though twisted to one of pain as he thought, _It's not me she needs though…_

Sighing, Riley got up from his bed, changing into an outfit. As he dug through his closet for a sweater, he paused as his fingers brushed against a familiar object. He pulled out a sloppily knitted scarf, the memory resurfacing in his mind.

**_Flashback_**

_"It's…hideous…"_

_Those words came from nine-year-old Riley as he stared at the length of green yarn, many loose ends peeking out as crooked yellow R's decorated the ends. _

_"That's mean, Riley!" Hannah huffed, placing her fists on her hips. "I worked hard on those while I was in the hospital!"_

_Riley winced when she mentioned those words. Hannah had been released from the hospital a couple of months ago, and while she looked and acted perfectly fine, Riley wondered if she really was._

_"It's cute…I suppose…" _

_That comment came from Ryan, who looked at his own baby blue scarf, decorated with black R's. "They match our eye and hair color."_

_"Exactly!" Hannah smiled. Staring pointedly as Riley she emphasized, "At least **one** of you guys appreciate my gift."_

_Riley sighed, wrapping the scarf around his neck. He blushed lightly, ruffling Hannah's hair as he muttered, "Thanks."_

_Ryan too smiled his thanks to her. Hannah smiled back at them as they all held hands together. _

**_End of Flashback_**

Riley smiled softly, tracing one of the crooked yellow R's. Wrapping it around his neck, he pulled out a warm sweater from his closet and walked off to find Ryan.

-X-x-X-

Ryan pulled back on his pajama pants, having returned from his encounter with Nightwing. Raven was still asleep, and he tried to be quiet as to not wake her up.

Knock. Knock.

Ryan paused midway into getting into bed, wondering who would be at the door at this hour. Sighing exasperatedly, he walked towards his front door. "Do you know what time—" Ryan abruptly stopped his sentence when he saw who was at the door. "Riley…"

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**Ugh, I'm sorry it took weeks to get this up. Like I said last chapter, I was still writing it, and school started. And I got sick this weekend. And then the uploader being stupid...Ugh, not fun. **

**Anyway, enough of my complaints. XP I read over this chapter in bits and pieces so there might still be mistakes in it…I apologize. I would do a through reading…but I'm too lazy and not in the mood to right now. So I'll reread it later, but I wanted to get this out to you guys.**

**Again, sorry it took a while. Chapters will come more slowly now that school started. **

**AND THANKS SO MUCH FOR THOSE WHO STUCK WITH ME AND REVIEWED AND READ!! You guys are amazing! I love your reviews! They make me so happy!!**

**Hoped you enjoyed this chapter.**

**Ciao,**

**Xaleria**


	9. The Harm of News

**I'm SO SORRY guys!! X( I am not dead (at least physically I am not), neither did I ditch this story. Ugh, school's been a killer, but I got a new computer (YAY!!) so my documents have been kinda scattered and I just barely got them organized to the way I like it. Ah, I also need to get all my programs again…**

**Ah, but enough of that, this chapter is way more important!! BECAUSE…!! Well, you'll just have to read and see, right? XD**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing! Nothing! Not even the money I got for my birthday! Sad, isn't it? I DO OWN MY OWN OCs though!! YEAH!!**

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**Chapter 8- The Harm of News**

The very person who had kept Ryan up most of these nights was now sitting in his living room, drinking coffee…how bizarre it felt.

"So…" started Ryan as he broke the uncomfortable silence. "What brings you here?"

Riley ignored his question, choosing instead to put down the mug and inspect the scarf around his neck, "Do you remember this scarf, Ryan?"

Of course he remembered it, but that wasn't what Ryan wanted to know. "Cut the crap, Riley," Ryan hissed, his eyes darting to the bedroom door which Raven was still sleeping behind. "You're here for a reason."

"She never did make a perfect one, did she?" Riley questioned as he rubbed his thumbs against the messed up R's. He chuckled, "She was always so clumsy…"

"Riley," Ryan growled warningly this time.

"Wasn't it so terrifying to see her just as crooked as these R's?" Riley murmured, those words stopping Ryan from getting up and kicking him out of his condo. Riley glared up at Ryan as he clenched the scarf tightly, "Didn't it scare the shit out of you when you saw her get crushed?"

Ryan's eyes were locked on Riley's fists as he squeezed the scarf. "Now…" Riley stated simply as he got up, walking slowly to be behind Ryan. He placed his hands on Ryan's shoulders gravely, whispering in his ear, "Wouldn't it be just as frightening to see Raven like that?"

"Is that a threat?" Ryan asked, not really knowing how serious Riley was. All Riley had to do was smile to confirm it.

Ryan's eyes widened as the weight of Riley's hands left his shoulders, although they still felt like there was a heavy burden on them. Ryan quickly got up turning to face Riley who leaned against the wall, close the bedroom door. "She'll be so surprised," he said softly, playing with the dangling ends of the scarf. "She won't be able to fight back. And you…" his eyes hardened, "You would be watching, just as heartbroken as Hannah was when you tore that valentine in her face."

Ryan shut his eyes, wanting to forget. It was the only thing he ever regretted doing to Hannah…

_**Flashback**_

"_R-Ryan…"_

"_What?" Ryan turned around irritably, looking back at Hannah. She had been bugging him since ever a couple of months ago, and he was getting sick of it. She was like a little puppy, always clinging to him._

"_Um…" Hannah shuffled her feet nervously, which was only angering Ryan more. He hated the sound of her shoes scraping against the wood. It was unpleasant. And he had never noticed these things until she started following him constantly, cooing his name and babying him. He was so annoyed with her!_

"_What?" he snapped again. "What do you want?" _

_Hannah took in a deep breath, a confident look on her face now and she shoved a piece of red and pink paper in his face, a little bag of cookies attached. "This is for you. I had Peter bake them fresh, and they're your favorite." _

_Ryan looked down at the bag. That was it? That is what she had been bugging him constantly about? And she hadn't been nice about it either. She was practically a stalker, even worse than the paparazzi! _

"_What is it?" was all he could say. There had to be some kind of importance, right? _

"_It's a valentine, silly! I'm telling you that I love you!" Hannah giggled. _

_That made Ryan freeze up. Yes, he loved Hannah…as a sister. And she probably didn't mean she loved him as a brother. "Look…Hannah, while this is nice and all, I…don't like you that way."_

"…_What?" Hannah's eyes widened with shock. Had she actually been rejected? That wasn't possible. "H…how…? How can you…reject me?" _

_Ryan scowled again. "Jeez, you're not the center of the world you know."_

"_But…but…"_

"_Look, Hannah, why not give it to Riley?" Ryan hinted, knowing how much his friend, although he denied it, liked Hannah. "I'm sure he'll be your valentine."_

"_But I want you!" Hannah screamed, getting frustrated now. She had __**never**__ been rejected. Never! No one ever told her 'No'! Everyone loved her! Everyone pleased her! "You have to love me back! I say so!" _

"_Look, would you stop being a spoiled brat?" Ryan became infuriated now. "You can't have everything you want!" In need of venting, he ripped the card to shreds. Hannah watched, her eyes wide with surprise. _

"_Guess I can't be your valentine anymore," he grumbled. _

_Hours later, when walking home, Hannah jumped into front of a truck. And all Ryan could do was watch, eyes wide with surprise._

_**End of Flashback**_

"That wasn't supposed to happen…" Ryan breathed out, looking wearily at Riley.

"Of course not." Riley muttered nonchalantly. He went up to Ryan until they were face to face, "But remember Ry, every action has a consequence. You told me that once."

Riley then turned on his heel and walked away, leaving Ryan to drown in his memories.

-X-x-X-

"It's been a month," was all he needed to say to trigger her fury.

"I know it's been a month!" Lia snapped at her cousin as she glared at him. "Do you think searching for Raven would be _**easy?**_ She's much more powerful than you and I."

"How hard can it be to find a half-demon in a city of _**humans**_?" Tray sneered as he leaned back comfortably on the couch he sat on. Currently, they were in Lia's apartment living room as she tried to search for Raven through soul-searching.

For a month, they had been searching for Raven using various different ways but it had been hard. They were already at their last resort.

Soul-searching was a common method among demons to find their enemies and the like and the most effective way as well, granted thought that you had the necessary items. But Lia was having a hard time since she had nothing of value to Raven. "Well, if you're so confident, why don't _**you **_try to look for her?"

Glaring at the challenge, Tray scoffed, "Fine."

Lia moved out of her spot to allow Tray to sit in the center of the room, Indian-style. Taking in a deep breath and letting it out, Tray focused on finding Raven. He imagined her in his mind then poured his soul into it, allowing his memories and the will to find Raven power it. But all he kept getting was nothing.

"Told you it wasn't easy," Lia muttered. "Unless we get something of value to Raven, we may never find her."

"Tsh," Tray scoffed angrily as he fiddled with one of the charms around his neck. It was small amethyst, entwined with black metal around it. He blinked as a memory resurfaced to his mind, and he looked down at the charm he was playing with. He then broke out into a grin, taking the necklace off his neck. "How stupid of me."

Lia watched as Tray clasped the necklace tightly in his palm. His eyes closed and he saw the images flash by. Tray saw water, iron, a nameplate with the numbers 701 on it, soft white, and parted lips ever so slightly whispering a name, "Raven…"

Lia studied Tray's face curiously as a small smile lit it. It was something alien to see on his face. He only smiled wicked, deceiving ones. "Did you find her?" she asked, breaking his trance.

Tray opened his eyes, nodding slightly, "Sort of. I saw two different places, so I have no clue which one she's in right now. We'll just have to go to both of them."

"Alright, what was the first one?" Lia questioned, getting up and dusting her jeans off.

"A tower," Tray informed her as he too got up. "It sat in the middle of a bay."

-X-x-X-

"I don't know, while I love this color, it doesn't match with this one." Raven commented as she held the two colored papers side by side. Turning to Ryan, who had not gone to work today to help Raven with wedding plans, she asked, "Which one do you like, Ryan?"

She didn't receive an answer, and Raven looked up to find that Ryan was deep in thought. His eyes were closed and his face was scrunched up as he muttered things to himself. "Ryan?"

"Hm?" he murmured, still not looking up at Raven.

"Which color do you prefer?" she held out the two pieces of paper to him, but he didn't even glance at it.

"Both are fine."

"You didn't even look at it."

Sighing exasperatedly, Ryan just pointed to a random color. "That color then."

"Ryan, you're not taking this seriously," Raven chastised.

"It's just one color, Rae, what difference is it going to make?" Ryan sighed again.

"A big difference!" Raven snapped, getting frustrated. "This is supposed to be the most memorable day of our lives, and you're just treating it like it doesn't matter!"

"I am not!" Ryan argued back, becoming angered with Raven's tone of voice. "I just have a lot on my mind right now! I can't focus on what colors the napkins should be!"

"Oh, so our wedding is less important than whatever is on your mind?" Raven's tone was sarcastic and irritated. What was going on with Ryan? He never acted this bad when they fought.

"Yes, in fact, it is!" A tense silence filled the room afterwards. Raven stared at Ryan in shock, especially when he didn't look sorry for what he said. This was the first time Ryan didn't apologize right away to her, and even yell so badly at her! He never treated her like this…

Hannah's words from before came back, '_a moment's fascination_'. Is that really what she was to Ryan? Did he really just want to marry her so he could brag about how he had a "Titan" for a wife?

Becoming doubtful and furious, she shoved the papers into Ryan's face, growling, "Fine! If whatever is on your mind more important, I shouldn't even be here! Obviously, I'm no longer on your mind."

Raven stomped out of the room, leaving Ryan. He stared at the door she had just walked out of, the shock now overtaking his body. If only Hannah had not fallen in love with him…she had not jumped in front of that truck…he hadn't torn that valentine…he hadn't fallen in love with Raven…if only…

Ryan looked down at the papers, and then threw them to the ground, "Fuck!" He ran his fingers through his hair then covered his eyes to stop the angry, painful tears and muttered, "Fuck it all."

-X-x-X-

"So, let me get this straight…" Nightwing muttered as he scrunched his eyebrows in thought. He pointed towards Tray, "You're telling us that Raven is supposed to be your fiancé and you came to get her?"

Tray nodded, smiling his most charming, deceitful smile, "Exactly." Lia looked around from beside him, feeling a little uncomfortable with tricking these innocent people. They had nothing to do with Tray's goal and shouldn't have gotten mixed in with it.

"And you're his cousin?" Cyborg asked to confirm as he looked at Lia. She snapped out of her thoughts and nodded, trying her best to smile just as innocently as Tray.

"That's right."

"Uh…well, sorry to be a downer dude," Changeling started as rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. "But you're kinda too late."

"What do you mean?" Tray frowned now. Too late? Was Raven dead? That was impossible. Or had another demon gotten to her? That was a possibility…

"She's already getting married to another guy." Tray almost fell with shock as he heard this. If Raven really did love this guy…it was even worse than another demon getting to her! It would be impossible to get Raven and use her now! Unless he kidnapped her, but he didn't want any major issues with the super friends she had.

"M-married?" Tray faked the genuine shock and hurt in his voice as he made his eyes widened. "To someone else?"

"Yeah, sorry dude," Changeling awkwardly patted Tray on the shoulder out of sympathy.

Tray held in the urge to rip his hand of his shoulder and instead focused on saying, "But she can't get married to someone else!"

"Well, I understand how much this news might hurt you," Nightwing carefully spoke. "But she's already engaged and you can't do—"

"No, I mean, I'm happy that she's happy but she can't marry that other man." Tray placed panic and worry in his voice, smirking inwardly at how easily the Titans fell for his show. "Or else she'll die."

-X-x-X-

Raven slammed the bedroom door behind her then leaned against it. God, how much she wanted to cry, to scream, to do anything besides just be this emotionless statue. How had it been so easy to express her emotions around Ryan but not so when she wasn't?

BEEP. BEEP. Raven's eyes trailed towards her communicator clipped to her belt. It beeped blue, meaning it was just an alert to gather back at the Tower.

Not wanting to face Ryan again and wanting her friends for comfort, she teleported to the tower.

Raven appeared in the main room and was surprised to see that everyone was gathered there, discussing something with two people she didn't recognize. "Guys?"

Everyone's eyes turned towards her and she wondered what was so strange about her to make their eyes widen with shock. "Raven! Why didn't you tell us about this?!" Starfire demanded as she flew over to Raven, hugging her tightly with tears.

"Tell you what?" Raven inquired, confused as she looked at the other members who had suddenly turned away and wouldn't meet her eyes. Her eyes then traveled to the two strangers, studying them. They seemed a little familiar now that she really looked at them, especially the guy with his ash black hair, jade green eyes, and boyish smile as he turned to look at Raven. Her eyes widened, "Tray?"

The young man smiled, his eyes shining, "Long time no see Raven."

X-x-X-

"He's practically drowning in guilt." Riley informed softly as he looked up at Hannah's praising hazel eyes. "He'll be so consumed with his guilt of what happened to you that he'll leave Raven, or she'll leave him. Whichever cracks first."

"Good," Hannah cooed as she ran her fingers through Riley's ruffled hair, as if petting him. "That's very good, Riley."

He smiled in content. Despite the fact that he knew Hannah didn't really love him, he was too in love with her to just abandon her. He knew he was only her toy, her puppet, until she finally got her hands on Ryan. But this was better than before. It was better than having his heart ache as he watched Hannah cling to Ryan, and Ryan ignoring her completely and falling for Raven. It was better to be a mindless slave than to be ignored by her.

He was putty in her hands. And she enjoyed every moment of it.

And that was all that mattered to him.

**xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

**Too short for my liking, but good place to end off. X( I'm sorry everyone, I owe you way more than this, but this was just the perfect place to stop. **

**And man, I'm so mean to Riley…**

**And now Tray and Raven have finally met each other face to face! What's he going to do now, I wonder… :)**

**Not much Lia in this chapter, I should add more of her because she's actually a very important character (hint hint). Ah, well, you guys will see soon! I'll try to get the next chapter up as fast as I can! (Meaning turtle speed at the rate school's going T.T)**

**Sorry if there's any stupid mistakes. I'm really worn out. Time to go to bed.**

**Also, thanks so much for your loving reviews, not only to this story but my other ones as well! You guys are awesome! :)**

**Ciao,**

**Xaleria**


	10. Deal with the Devil

**I'm just going straight to the story since I know that's what you guys have been waiting for. :) Read my AN at the end.**

**Disclaimer: OC's= Mine, Teen Titans= Not Mine **

**xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

**Chapter 9- Deal with the Devil**

_**18 Years Ago…**_

_Laughter filled the air, piercing Raven's ears as she looked for the source of the sound. Chaos was strewn all around her as the priests tried to put out the small fire that had broken out around some scared tapestry of theirs while demon kids ran out of the school, screaming. She actually found it quite amusing herself and assumed that whoever was laughing had been the cause._

_Her eyes fell upon a lone boy, who stood on one of the desks laughing at the other kids. His dark ash hair cast a menacing shadow over his face. Raven had seen him about maybe once or twice, wandering through the halls of the school and causing trouble wherever he went. Like she acted to all the other kids, she hadn't bothered to look twice at him, although now she reassessed him._

"_What are you looking at?" the boy sneered as he peered down at Raven. _

"_Nothing much," Raven retorted, her eyes becoming uninterested as the boy floated down to face her. His eyes speculated her, critical, and all Raven did was stare back with the same look. _

_A look of praise then entered his eyes and he smiled, "You're like me."_

_Glancing back at the boy, Raven then noticed the subtle differences in him that set him apart from the other kids. Like her, she finally realized, his eyes were not of the demonic origin. Instead of a scarlet or burgundy color like most other demon kids had, he had a hypnotic jade green color. His skin was tan compared to her pale tone, and also unlike the other kids, their own blood fueling their abilities, he held a look of thirst for power. _

_Having those characteristics, much similar to hers in some ways, she realized he was a half-demon like her. He may not have been of the same high blood as her however, but it explained why he too did not take an interest in the prejudiced teachings of the priests and had ruined the lesson, which she herself had come close to destroying. _

_Raven looked down at the offered hand and he said, "The name's Tray Reeves, son of Damascus. You?"_

_Slowly, but surely, Raven offered her hand to him, "Raven Roth, daughter of Trigon."_

_Tray let out a low whistle as he heard that, "Wow, the king demon, huh? That must suck."_

"_And being the only son of the highest guard does not?" _

_The two looked at each other, a mutual understanding in their eyes of being different from everyone else. And thus, the start of their friendship began._

_**13 Years Ago…**_

"_You're going to get in trouble again," was all Raven said as she watched her best friend of five years climb up a knotted tree._

"_Tsh," Tray scoffed. "As if they'll ever catch me. Now would you hand me my knife?" _

"_I don't know why you couldn't just __**buy**__ the seasonal herb. It's easier." Raven muttered as she followed his orders. _

"_I didn't want to trouble my mother for more money. You know those merchants overprice us just because we're halves." Tray pulled out the knife from his sheath and began to carve off pieces of herbs hanging to the tree._

"_What is the herb for in the first place?" Raven questioned, still not sure why Tray had awoken her in the middle of the night just to steal herbs. _

_Tray paused in his carving, then continued silently. "Tray?"_

"_Raven…" he started, stopping again to figure out what he wanted to say. He started to speak again as he carved. "My mother and your mother agreed to have us make a blood pact."_

_Raven looked up at Tray, her eyes widening at the words, "Blood pact? Us?" _

_He only nodded to answer. "But…but that's just insane! Us? We're like brother and sister! And I'm only thirteen and you're only fourteen! Hardly close to the age where we can marry! And what about the priests? Would they accept this?"_

_Raven paused as her eyes widened in recognition at Tray's serious look. "The priests are the ones holding this ceremony, aren't they?" _

"_They're the only ones who can make it legit." Tray sighed. "And you know that the only reason they accepted it is because our fathers are both high standing people. They think with us two married, we shall make great, demon children for them to use."_

_Raven's face distorted into one of disgust. No matter what would happen, there was no way she was going through with it. _

_**10 Years Ago…**_

_Raven put the last of her meager belongings together quickly. If she did not hurry, the priests would soon be breathing down her neck. _

_Taking one last look at the empty house, Raven felt a wave of loneliness wash over her. Just last year, Raven's mother had passed on. And two years ago, Tray had disappeared from Azarath without a trace. Now it was her turn. With the priests frantic over finding Tray and making sure their blood pact would be completed, they had put a tight rein on Raven that she had become sick of it. _

_She would leave Azarath like Tray and never return._

_As she readied to teleport, Raven swore to herself that nothing would be able to bring her back here. Absolutely nothing._

-X-x-X-

"What?" Raven shrieked as a couple of light bulbs busted from her lack of channeling her emotions. Tray was taken aback by her surge of power. It was much stronger than he had imagined.

"I am **not** going back there." Raven stated firmly as her eyes became dark and clouded.

"Raven, there's the blood pact though…"

"Since when did you care about the blood pact?" Raven snarled as she looked at Tray. "You disappeared the year after it was made! You clearly did not want to fulfill the blood pact either!"

"Of course I didn't," Tray told her. "The priests were only using us. And like a child, I ran from the problem. But I'm all grown up now Raven, and I realize that it was rash and foolish to run away at that time. I only thought about myself and didn't even stop to think about you. Your life is also at stake here, Raven."

Raven paused as she noticed that Tray was right. With the blood pact ten years ago, they both had sworn to be eternally tied, and signed a contract with the Spirits, the higher level demons that she had only heard about in tales from the priests, with their own blood. It was unbreakable, and if Raven tried to break it by marrying someone else, her life would surely be lost in some tragic way.

"Raven, I know how much we both don't want to do this," Tray started, "but I wouldn't be able to live with myself if you died. You're my best friend, Raven, and I don't want to lose you."

Raven's eyes tightened at those words. _Best friend, huh?_

-X-x-X-

"Best friends, huh?" Ryan muttered to himself as he looked at a photo of him, Riley, and Hannah when they were kids. His eyes tightened as he placed the picture face down, "Some friends."

His distressed thoughts were interrupted by his cell phone as it rang. Wearily he picked it up, answering in a dull tone, "Hello?"

"Ryan?" Ryan's eyes widened at the worried, overly sweet tone.

"Hannah?" Getting over his initial shock he hissed, "What do you want?"

"I'm worried about you," she said.

"Yeah right, you're probably just checking up to see if your 'plan' succeeded. Well, congrats, it did! Raven left! Are you happy now?"

"Actually, yes," she answered without hesitation, infuriating Ryan more.

"Why are you doing this!" Ryan demanded. "That accident was over thirteen years ago, Hannah!"

"Don't you remember, Ryan? No one ever says no to me."

_Of course not_, Ryan bitterly thought to himself. _Cause if they did, you would be torturing them to this very day. Like me._

"You better choose Ryan. It's either me or her." Snapping back to the conversation at hand, Ryan's mind drifted between remembering the memories with Raven and their love slowly blooming, and the memory of Hannah being rushed to the hospital, barely clinging to life.

What was he to choose when he felt like either way he'd lose?

-X-x-X-

"Hmm?" Lia snapped out of her disturbed thoughts as she looked at Changeling, who had asked her something. "I'm sorry, can you repeat that?"

"I said, what is a blood pact really? I mean, how bad is it?"

"It's not bad necessarily," Lia replied as the other Titans gathered around her to listen. They had left the main room for Tray and Raven to talk, gathered in a meeting room. ""It's actually more a way for priests to make powerful ties among demons. The priests believe that if the strongest were together, they'd make powerful demon children."

"Now that's just wrong." Cyborg muttered. "To force two people together even if they don't love each other."

"Well most demons don't mind it because that is their tradition," Lia explained. "But in Tray's and Raven's case, it's different. Both hated the priests to begin with, and the blood pact doesn't do much to benefit them. It actually makes them prisoners to the priests."

_Actually, not anymore since Tray killed off those priests. Now Raven's his prisoner. _Lia thought to herself.

She remembered how Tray had told her of how after he heard Raven had left Azarath, he had traveled back there. With the two years he had made everyone think he had run away, he had actually been training and nurturing 'his' powers.

_Some demon he is, stealing other demons' powers using them as his own._ Lia thought bitterly. To her, she saw her cousin as a devious coward. If he had been a real demon, he would have faced those priests with his own power instead of slowly killing them off one by one.

"Prisoners how?" Lia turned back to the Titans as she answered Nightwing.

"If they aren't married, the pact that the priests legitimized would be broken and they'd both be committing blasphemy against the Spirits."

"The Spirits?"

"They're the higher class demons who we lower demons praise." Lia explained. "They are to us like you are to the people of Jump City. They are our protectors of justice."

"If Raven doesn't go through the blood pact…what would these Spirits do?" Starfire asked.

Lia frowned as she replied, "They would kill her in the worst way possible. Death by the Spirits is usually described as a dark abyss filled with blood-curdling screams that never end and pierce your ears. You cannot move, cannot escape, you are merely suffering a thousand deaths over and over, the pain of others burning themselves onto your skin."

The Titans looked at Lia, horrified at this revelation. As they turned to look at each other, their eyes said the same thing, "Raven cannot marry Ryan".

-X-x-X-

Ryan sighed as he looked down at his cell phone, getting Raven's voicemail once again. After contemplating his talk with Hannah, he decided he didn't care what she did anymore. He wasn't going to keep on being trapped by her and have her stop him from marrying Raven. He loved Raven. And that mattered more to him.

However, with their previous fight he wasn't so sure if Raven still believed that. He had to go apologize to her quickly, but she wouldn't answer her cell phone and she wasn't at home (his home). As he went through other possible places she could be, he realized,

_The tower! Why didn't I think of that before? Of course she'd go back there. _Ryan quickly grabbed his keys and rushed to his car, his destination being Titans Tower.

-X-x-X-

"Well, Raven, what is it going to be?" Raven looked at Tray, uncertain. Really, there was only one decision here: fulfill the blood pact. But she couldn't just do that. She couldn't leave Ryan…she…

"_Don't even think about that asshole!_" Anger hissed in her head. "_HE's the one who missed his chance by treating us like crap back there!_"

"_She's right! We shouldn't be begging on our knees to him for him to accept us back! He should be doing that!_" Courage chimed in.

"_He…he screamed…at us!!_" Sad said between sobs.

"_I think we should dump his sorry ass and just hook up with Tray,_" Rude muttered, bitter at Raven's and Ryan's earlier fight.

"_But it was just a small fight, every couple has small fights._" Love argued.

"_That is correct. We cannot assume he does not love us anymore just because of a petty argument._" Intelligence remarked.

"_And I'm sure no matter what Ryan loves us!_" Happy and Hope said together.

"_I…I say we give Ryan another chance…_"

All of Raven's emotions turned, shocked, at Fear. Usually scared and quiet, Fear never really participated in much of their conversations. Now they watched as she flinched at their stares but still stood firmly. "_Ryan deserves another chance…and frankly I don't like Tray. I…can feel something ominous about him_."

"_He's our best friend. Tray would never hurt us_." Happy told her.

"_I…I still don't like him_." Fear muttered. "_I'm scared of him_."

"_You're scared of everyone_," Rude and Anger snapped.

Fear flinched at their harsh tones. "_He's different. I can feel the evil aura in him. He's…changed_."

"_That's illogical. Tray came here out of concern for us. He's not a bad guy_," Intelligence informed her. "_You're just scared as usual Fear_."

Fear frowned but didn't argue back, her sudden courage slowly fading. After all, she was Fear.

"Raven?" Raven snapped out of the conversation between her emotions and looked back at Tray. His eyes held a look of concern in them.

_There's no way Tray is evil…Fear must be overreacting again._ Raven thought to herself. "Sorry Tray. I was just thinking about…my fiancé."

_Are we still engaged? _Raven wondered. No one had really called it off back then. And like Love as said, it was just a small fight and all couples had them. If they had been the perfect couple who didn't fight, wouldn't that be just a little out of the ordinary? Although nothing about this was ordinary to begin with.

"I know it must be hard for you to choose between me and your fiancé, Raven. But if we break this blood pact you'll die, do you really think your fiancé would want that?" Tray smirked inwardly, seeing Raven wavering. She would choose him. She had to.

"Look, Tray…" Raven started.

"Raven!" Raven spun around, looking shocked as Ryan burst into the room.

"Ryan!" Being overcome in happiness that Ryan was here, had come to her, she ran to him and threw her arms around his neck. She guessed Hannah was wrong with calling her a 'moment's fascination'.

Tray stood there, incredulous. Did that mean that Raven had chosen her fiancé? Over him? She chose death, over life? Tray looked up as he heard the guy apologized to Raven profusely while she tried to tell him it wasn't his fault. It was sickening to watch them stare lovingly at each other so Tray interrupted, "Ahem."

"Oh," Raven turned back to Tray and smiled apologetically as Ryan raised a curious brow. "Ryan, this is my best friend, Tray. Tray, this is my fiancé, Ryan."

Tray smiled, offering his hand to Ryan. "Nice to meet you."

"Likewise," Ryan replied as he shook hands with Tray.

Tray smiled and watched images pass through his head as he searched through Ryan's mind, "I can see why you like him, Raven."

This guy was definitely someone he would have to deal with. How though? It would be hard to get rid of him. From Ryan's memories, Tray had seen how close he and Raven were. Raven wouldn't give up so easily.

Tray paused as another image filled his head before Ryan let go. It was petite girl, with wavy copper hair and hazel eyes. She was arguing with Ryan, insisting that's he was his fiancé and him denying it. _I think I just found something interesting._

He looked at Ryan from the corner of his eyes, watching as he and Raven called the other Titans to the main room to settle something about "proper introductions" as Raven said. _Yes, something very interesting indeed._

-X-x-X-

Lia watched her cousin suspiciously as he hummed. They had teleported home from the tower quite a while ago, and since ever then Tray had gone around her house gathering ingredients for something as he hummed a tune.

"What are you planning Tray? I assume it must be some way to get rid of Ryan's fiancé?" Lia's eyes narrowed sharply.

"You could say that," Tray replied as he started to mix what he had gathered. "I won't get rid of him permanently, just out of my way."

"What are you going to do?" Lia asked.

Tray smiled as he finished his experiment and stuck his hand in then pulled it out, watching a fist symbol burn onto his palm. He only said to her, "Lia, be a dear and see if you can locate a girl called Hannah Wither."

-X-x-X-

"Hm, that girl is starting to get very irritating," Hannah muttered to herself as she reapplied her makeup, glaring into her vanity. "I need to get her out of the picture somehow."

"I can help with that."

Hannah whirled around to stare at the mysterious intruder in surprise. "Who…? What…? How…? How the hell did you get in here?! Security!"

"You want Raven Roth away from Ryan Xander right?" the man asked as he sauntered up to Hannah, ignoring her statement. He had already taken care of the guards. "Well I want Ryan Xander away from Raven Roth. I'm sure we can work out some kind of agreement together to make us both happy."

Hannah's eyes narrowed suspiciously at this stranger. "Who are you?"

"How rude of me," the guy chuckled. "I am Tray Reeves, and Raven's supposed fiancé."

"Oh, I see," Hannah smiled slowly. So he was someone who shared her pain. Very interesting. Getting into strict business mode, she asked, "What was this agreement you were talking about?"

Tray smiled, liking this girl already. He could see both of them plotting evil things together. "Just a simple contract my dear, it's fairly simple. If you get Ryan Xander away from Raven, you can have him, and vice versa applies to me."

Hannah pondered it for a moment. So what this Tray guy was saying that if they worked together to get rid of both their opponents, both of them would end up happy. It was simple and the exact result she wanted. Not to mention devious at the same time, exactly her kind of thing. "Alright," Hannah said. "You have yourself a deal."

"Excellent," Tray purred. He stuck his hand out, "Now to shake, to seal the deal."

Hannah shook his hand then yelped as she felt something burn into her skin. She pulled her hand away and looked down at her palm to see a faded fist picture.

"My symbol," Tray explained to her. "So that you carry out this agreement fully."

"Oh trust me, I will. I just hope you'll fulfill your own part." Hannah replied.

"Of course," Tray smiled. He then disappeared.

Hannah looked down at her hand as she grazed her fingers against the symbol, knowing she had just made a deal with the devil.

**xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

**Alright! I tried to make it as long as I could because you guys deserve it. :) But I don't want to give everything away just yet. **

**And I'm REALLY SORRY it took like two months for me to update! And you know the usual excuses like school…blah blah blah.**

**Really right now I'm supposed to be working but screw school I want to give you guys this chapter. **

**So I hoped you guys enjoyed it! :) Sorry if there's any mistakes. **

Thank you for putting up with my lack of updating and reading and reviewing!

**Ciao,**

**Xaleria**


	11. So Many Problems

**Gosh, there's been so much going on. I'm sorry I wasn't able to get this chapter up for Christmas. :( So instead here's my last update of 2008! I hope you guys have a Happy New Year!**

**Disclaimer: OC's= Mine, Teen Titans= Not Mine **

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**Chapter 10- So Many Problems**

Raven shivered as she pulled the blanket closer to her, trying to warm up in the winter night. Winters were the worst in Jump City with freezing temperatures and the occasional snowfall.

"You cold?" Ryan murmured as he rolled over and wrapped his arms around Raven, bringing her closer to him. He placed his chin on her shoulder, rubbing her arms for her.

"Thanks," Raven replied, blushing a little from his show of affection. She shook it off though as a thought wandered into her mind. It had never occurred to her before since there was never the need to, but as their wedding date neared it was only normal for this to come up. Now she became curious as to what Ryan would think of it. "Ryan…"

"Hmm?"

"What do you think about having kids?"

That shocked Ryan, who sputtered, "K-k-kids?? As is kids that would grow and cause more harm than good half the time but you just can't help but love them, kids?"

Raven chuckled at the shocked look on his face. He had not been expecting that, especially from her. "Yes, those kids. Is there any other kind?"

Ryan looked seriously down at Raven, "Do…do you want kids?"

Sighing, she answered, "Yes and no."

"Why yes and no?"

Raven squirmed out of Ryan's arms and sat up, Ryan following suit. He had a feeling there was a long conversation ahead of them.

"Ryan…" Raven started off, pondering her next words carefully. Of course I would love to have a child with you, but you do know that _if _we have a child, it'll be—"

"Part demon, yes, I know." Ryan cut her off, knowing exactly what she was thinking about now. She was worried he wouldn't accept her demonic half. _Really,_ he thought, shaking his head, _after knowing each other for ten years and dating for three of those years you think she would know me better_. "Raven, I don't care if our child will be part demon, black, blue, or whatever else. As long as it's healthy I'm content with anything."

"But Ryan," Raven persisted. "Demonic children can be hard to control at times, and they can do dangerous things given the power. And…and I don't want to cause you any trouble. I don't want you to burden yourself with something so dreadful and horrify—"

"Raven," he said firmly, causing her to stop midsentence. "You should know I would **never** consider our child like that. Do you really think I can call anything that will come from us dreadful? Why do you say this as if any child from us will be horrible demonic spawn?"

"Because they will," Raven insisted, remembering how some kids back on Azarath had acted, even how she herself sometimes acted. Raven could almost see it. A child, all too troublesome and evil, tearing apart everything she loved. Ryan would hate her. Everyone would. How could anyone still like her when she was the one that birthed such a thing that would cause everyone unhappiness?

"Raven, look at me." Ryan demanded. Raven had turned away from him, too caught up in her thoughts. When she didn't turn, he grabbed her face and made her look at him in the eyes. "Raven, we're not sure whether or not if any child of ours will be like what you're thinking. Remember how those kids on Azarath were raised. They were raised to use their powers for destruction. Do you really think I would allow that?"

"No, but—"

"No buts!" Ryan chastised. "Don't worry about it. It's not like we're going to have kids right away, we can wait a few years if that eases your mind."

Raven frowned. She wasn't sure if she_** had**_ a few years. Raven was literally the walking dead for now. She knew what the end result would be…but she couldn't abandon Ryan.

No…with their wedding date coming closer, Raven had such little time now. This struck her as turned over to look up at Ryan, realizing that the years she had hoped to spend with him became reduced to a few weeks.

"What if…" she whispered, trailing her finger down his bare chest. "I don't want to wait?"

Ryan looked at her confused, thinking she was still referring to the idea of having kids. However, Raven's mind was on another topic that had occurred their first night in Ryan's home.

_**Flashback**_

"_So what are we going to do about the sleeping arrangements?" Raven asked out of the blue. _

"_Well, I guess we can share the bed since we'll have to get used to it anyway." Ryan winked suggestively. _

_Raven inwardly groaned as Lust threw some sensory images at her again. As much as she wanted it, it just didn't feel right to Raven. Now just didn't seem like the time. She wanted their—she blushed as she secretly thought about this—first time to be special. To be meaningful. _

_As cheesy as it sounded to her, she wanted to wait until they were finally married. That felt right. When they were legally bonded as one didn't it just sound right to finally be physically bonded as one? It made sense to her. _

_Raven settled on that decision. She, after a couple of blushes, fumbling words, and laughs from Ryan, relayed this to him. And like she knew, he respected her decision. _

_**End of Flashback**_

"Raven?" Ryan's voice broke her from her memories. He peered at her worriedly, wondering what she was thinking about.

Raven paused, took in a deep breath, then let it out as she asked, "Ryan, do you remember what I told you on the first night I stayed here?"

Ryan's eyes were concentrated at first, trying to remember, and then a look of recognition and surprise entered his eyes. "Raven," he stated gravely. "Are you sure about this? I mean, I don't want to force you because of the talk we had right now."

_What a time he picked to be chivalrous!_ Raven thought. She didn't speak, just leaned forward and kissed his neck, trailing kisses upwards until she reached his lips. She kissed him with such ferocity and passion, not caring that her emotions were going haywire and several light bulbs had broken.

"Dammit," Ryan hissed against her lips, his voice husky. He knew Raven was trying to seduce him beyond his control, and she was succeeding. "Raven," he managed to groan, wishing she would stop but at the same time not wanting her to.

Raven pulled herself away from Ryan for a moment, staring at him with pleading eyes. That was all it took for Ryan to crack.

Unable to hold himself back any longer, he rolled Raven onto her back with him on top of her as he growled, "Aww, dammit."

-X-x-X-

Riley frowned, glaring in the direction of the man sitting across from him. Tray Reeves smiled at him, the smile being anything but friendly. Riley **did not **like this man, and he wondered why he was hanging around Hannah in the first place.

"Tray!" Hannah greeted enthusiastically like they were old friends. She came waltzing into the room in a shimmering gold dress that looked like it belonged on a hooker instead of a soon-to-be-big-business-owner. Tray was given a hug and air kisses on both cheeks. Riley was acknowledged with a "Riley" and a tight, forced smile.

"I came to discuss of our…contract," Tray informed her before she could ask. His eyes flickered to Riley then backed to Hannah. "I was hoping we could speak in private."

"Of course." Hannah cooed. "Step into my office."

Tray smiled at Hannah and followed where she pointed. Hannah turned on Riley, who got up. "Make sure no one disturbs us, alright Riley?"

He nodded to Hannah, still glaring at Tray who smiled wickedly at him from behind Hannah. "Good," Hannah smiled, turning around and motioning Tray to follow her.

Riley still had no clue who Tray was, but he had a feeling he was no one that meant good.

-X-x-X-

Hannah closed the doors behind her. "Champagne?" she offered Tray, gesturing to a chilled bottle and glasses.

"No, I don't drink champagne." Tray's eyes smiled, as if there were a joke to that.

"I see," Hannah said forcibly. She still hated the word "no". Shaking it off, Hannah took a seat across from Tray and crossed her legs, her dress revealing even more than it did before. It was her habit, seducing her clients to get more money. Although she wouldn't get money out of this contract. "So what did you want to discuss?"

Getting straight to the point, Tray asked, "So what do you intend to do to get Ryan Xander away from Raven?"

Hannah gave that "you're joking, right?" look to Tray as if the answer was obvious. Which, had he truly known Hannah's character, was. "I'm going to seduce him of course."

Tray chuckled. Such a simple mind she had. "If I remember correctly," he stated, going through Ryan's memories. "You already tried seduction and that failed. Blackmailing him also failed. Making him come to you out of guilt, also failed."

Hannah's face turned red. Who was this guy to tell her she only failed? The nerve of him! However, she held in her anger, trying to smile charmingly, "Then what, pray tell, do you suggest I do?" _Ha, _she smugly thought to herself. _Try to answer that._

Tray chuckled again, "Your problem is easy to identify, Miss. Whither. You only focus on Ryan in your plans. You don't take the time to consider what you can do to Raven."

Hannah's eyes lit up and she leaned closer to Tray. "Oh? I thought you wanted Raven? Are you suggesting that I harm her?"

"Not physically," Tray said, folding his fingers together. "You need only to plant a seed of doubt within her. Once you do, you can water that plant and let it grow."

"So you're saying I make her believe that Ryan's cheating on her?"

"I never said cheating," although his smile told Hannah he was thinking of it, "but whatever works for you."

"Hmm," Hannah mused, smiling wider. It was a perfect idea, and had never occurred to her before. Her partnership with Tray just might do the trick of getting Ryan with her. However, there was one flaw in that plan that Hannah pointed out, "What about Ryan though? He won't give up on Raven easily and will do anything to get rid of any doubts."

"Oh, don't worry about him," Tray's eyes twinkled with a mischievous gleam. "I will take care of it. You just worry about your part of the contract."

"That's another thing," Hannah complained. "What's with this fist symbol? It's not very fashionable you know."

"As I told you, it's to ensure you fulfill your part of the agreement."

"And if I don't?"

Tray smiled wickedly, "You die."

Hannah couldn't help but shiver at the look of pure evil in his eyes.

-X-x-X-

Raven sighed as her eyes fluttered open. The memories of last night flooded her head as her emotions started ranting like crazy in her head. She ignored them however as she smiled at the pair of baby blue eyes that stared at her.

"Morning," she whispered as a small smile graced her face. Raven felt like she was floating or on some kind of high. She had never been so happy before.

"Morning, love." Ryan murmured as he kissed her forehead. Raven's small smile widened a little. At least he didn't seem mad that she had seduced him last night. In fact, if her powers were working correctly (she wasn't entirely sure with her mixed up emotions), he had enjoyed it as much as she.

They just stayed in silence for the time, staring at each other. The silence was broken however by Raven's growling stomach. As her pinks were tinted red, Ryan laughed, "I'll go make breakfast while you shower." It had become their daily morning routine. Him making breakfast, Raven showering, and then him showering afterwards.

"You don't want to shower with me?" Raven pouted sadly, however, hoping secretly she might succeed at seduction again. This flirting thing was much easier now. She remembered how she struggled with Ryan's many flirtations back when he was still a kid.

"Don't tempt me," Ryan muttered, getting up and dressing before he was tempted.

Raven laughed, causing Ryan to break out in a smile.

-X-x-X-

Lia scanned the ancient pages of the book as she read a paragraph aloud to herself.

"To sever the ties of blood, One must die; One must live. Great power It must behold to stand on Judgment Day before Holiness. If It does not, the depths of Hell await. Death may be your Savior."

The passage made absolutely no sense to Lia. She understood the part where one of those involved in the blood pact would have to die while the other would live, but what did the text mean "It" must hold great power? What was Judgment Day? She had never heard of it. Lia figured that "Holiness" referred to the Spirits, and the depths of Hell must be the death by the Spirits. But the last line completely stumped her. How could Death, if that is what they were trying to avoid in the first place, be their Savior?

Although not totally sure in its meaning, Lia copied down the passage on a sheet of paper. She had a feeling it would be important.

"Lia?" a voice called out as a door slammed. Her cousin was home.

"Back here!" she called, quickly putting away the book and shoving the paper into her pocket.

She couldn't let Tray know about this. He would surely kill her if he did.

**xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

**Agh, this length bugs me. I want to make it longer, but I have a feeling I'd write the entire story if I continued. And that was a good cliffhanger.**

**Anyway, I apologize if Raven seems OOC at any time. What is it with me and making the girls seduce the guys? XD Sorry if you anyone was expecting anything more. I don't write Lemon, but I also do not shy away from implying. :P**

**So I hoped you guys enjoyed it! :) Sorry if there's any mistakes, I was rush proof-reading since I wanted to post this tonight…err…well today since it's the morning already. My sleeping schedule has become screwed up due to break.**

Thank you for putting up with my lack of updating and reading and reviewing!

**Ciao,**

**Xaleria**


	12. What They Don't Know

**OMG! I'm SO SORRY GUYS! I owe you guys the biggest apology EVER for slacking off and not updating. Ugh, school ended horribly (is sure she failed half her finals), but I'm just glad it's over. I was going to take summer classes, but decided not too (would just stress me out more) so this gives me more time to write! :D But I also got accepted into three leadership positions at school so I'll be very busy sometime this summer and during the school year, but I promise to update more often and not wait months! XD**

**Again, I'm so sorry. Gosh, I last updated almost half a year ago, I'm so sorry guys. :(**

**Anyway, to make up for it, I tried to make this chapter long and fulfilling! Enjoy! **

**Disclaimer: I do not own anybody but my own characters.**

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**Chapter 11- What They Don't Know**

Nightwing frowned with worry as he paced back and forth. Two months…that's all he had left to convince Raven or Ryan to break off their engagement before Raven was killed by the blood pact. It wasn't much time.

"Daddy?" Nightwing turned around and smiled softly as he saw his little girl rubbing the sleep from her eyes, walking slowly towards him."How come you aren't asleep yet?"

"I was just thinking of ways to help your Auntie Raven, sweetie." Nightwing pushed back some stray hair and kissed her forehead. "Come on, let's go to bed."

"Okie dokie," Kari yawned, motioning for her father to pick her up. Nightwing did so and pondered what to do as he carried Kari back to her room.

He would have to be honest with them; that was his only choice. He couldn't force them to end their relationship.

It would be like telling the sky it couldn't be blue.

-X-x-X-

"Do you really need to go?" Ryan murmured as he looked at Raven longingly. After that night, which had been over a week ago, the two had been inseparable but…

"Your mom's insistent that I go. I'm sorry." Raven hugged Ryan tightly, wishing she could stay like that forever.

"Oh come on!" Rona muttered with a roll of her eyes. "It's not like she's leaving your for forever Ryan! All we're doing is spending a week together! Just mother-in-law and daughter-in-law."

The two looked at each, still hesitant to let go. Rona sighed, shaking her head. She then smiled wickedly, "Well I guess Raven can just stay here. We really don't need to go to the spa to make her all beautiful, and she certainly doesn't need to go pick out her wedding dress either…"

Ryan kissed Raven's forehead and pushed her towards Rona, "Make sure to pick out something beautiful and easy to take off." Ryan winked jokingly as Raven blushed.

"Ryan!" she hissed as Rona laughed, gesturing for Raven to come inside the extravagant car waiting for them. After a few more goodbyes and nags from Rona, the car drove off, Ryan watching sadly from the front of his father's mansion.

Vincent Xander sighed and rested his heavy hand on his son's shoulder, "Don't worry so much, Ryan. She'll be back before you know it. You can live seven days without her, can't you?"

_It's not really missing her I worry about,_ Ryan thought to himself as Hannah came to mind.

-X-x-X-

Ryan sighed as he came to his condo door feeling lonely. It was going to be a long week. Sighing again, he moved to unlock his door, only to find that it was already unlocked. His eyes narrowed in suspicion as he quietly pushed the door open, entering cautiously. Everything looked untouched and the same, except that his bedroom door was left ajar and he knew for sure that he had closed it.

Ryan silently approached the door and pushed it open slightly. "Finally, you're home."

Recognizing the voice and becoming enraged, Ryan pushed the door open fully and found Hannah spread out on his bed, wearing a sensual outfit that left little to the imagination. "What are you doing here Hannah?"

"Aww, is that any way to treat an old friend?" Hannah whispered trying to sound seductive but actually sounding anything but.

"Get out of my home," Ryan muttered, crossing his arms.

"You really hurt my feelings Ryan," Hannah feigned hurt, pouting. Ryan tried to ignore her, taking off his coat.

"If you're here to try and get me to leave Raven again it's useless. I won't leave her, Hannah." Ryan turned to face Hannah again, surprised that she had sunk up on him from behind. She had him against the wall as she grabbed his tie, loosening it a little bit, and unbuttoning the top buttons one by one.

"Hannah," Ryan growled warningly as he grabbed her hands, stopping her.

"You know you want me, Ryan." Hannah purred, tracing her long nail down his exposed chest. "You know you deserve better than that demon bitch."

Ryan roughly pushed Hannah so that it was her against the wall this time as he angrily looked in her eyes, "Don't you dare speak of Raven like that again, Hannah. We may have been best friends once but those days are over."

The pain of his words was evident in Hannah's eyes, and Ryan almost felt sorry for saying them. "Fine," she muttered, slowly pushing Ryan away from her as she made her way to the door. Before she left however, she turned around to look at Ryan once more, "Glad to know this is how much our friendship was worth."

She left, her words piercing Ryan like a double-edged sword.

-X-x-X-

Hannah shut Ryan's door behind her, looking towards her right as his neighbor peeked her head out of her door, staring with wide, curious eyes at Hannah. Hannah smiled at the old lady, walking gracefully to her car. Hannah knew his neighbor would spread rumors of what she had just witnessed like wildfire. That was the beginning of her plan.

As Hannah stepped into the car, she kissed Riley's cheek, murmuring, "Did you get it?" He nodded, showing the scandalous pictures that made Ryan look in all-too-compromising positions with her. "Good," Hannah cooed, rewarding Riley with a kiss.

Boy, was the paparazzi was going to have a field day.

-X-x-X-

"I'm heading out, Tray. Don't do anything stupid while I'm gone." Lia pointedly said as she gave her cousin a warning look. All he did was roll his eyes at her in response causing her to sigh. She left shaking her head.

The crazy city life of Jump was something Lia was used to, having lived in New York since she first came to Earth. Moving through the crowd of people, Lia headed to a small club, barely noticeable, on the corner of a less crowded street. The air about the club was not at all welcoming to mortals, but for Lia it was like a beacon guiding her to shore as she was lost at sea.

The moment she entered the stifling club, the scent of hot blood hit her as a hypnotic beat boomed throughout the building. Packed in a tight room, bodies swayed synchronously as subtle flirtations were thrown back and forth. But Lia ignored the inviting dance floor, where already several immortal men were giving her looks, and headed straight towards the bar.

"A pint?" the bartender asked.

Just as Lia was about to say her preference, a man slid into the seat next to her saying with a light English accent, "Make that two."

Turning towards the newcomer, Lia noted that he was well built with fair hair and crystal blue eyes which were currently staring into her own honey-colored eyes. The man smiled charmingly, "You're Liana Genevieve Reeves sole daughter of Damonus, aren't you?"

Lia was surprised to hear her full Azarathian name, something that hadn't passed through anyone's lips since she came to Earth. "How do you know me?" Lia inquired, picking up one of the pints of steaming blood the bartender placed in front of them.

"Whisperers. They tell me that a certain relative of yours is in town," the man responded.

_So…he's a Shadow Speaker then,_ Lia mused, impressed. You didn't find many who had the ability to speak to the Whisperers, or shadows, which lurked in every corner. It was a rare and useful talent. "So what of it?"

"The Whisperers don't particularly like the gent, love." The man chuckled, taking his own pint in hand. "They sense his evil."

Lia wasn't surprised by this, she knew her cousin was evil, but was surprised by how this man decided to confront her about it. Most of their kind preferred to stay out of each other's business, especially when it came to dangerous and powerful people like her cousin. "Who are you?"

The man smiled, winking at her, "James Bates."

"Well, happy to make your acquaintance James." Lia had a feeling this budding friendship would be very beneficial.

-X-x-X-

"Um…Rona? Are you sure this is…decent?" Raven tried to the force the blush off her face, staring down at the midnight blue dance dress that fluttered out from her hip and stopped mid-thigh. She wasn't worried about the skirt length, but more of the slit that curved slightly from the back all the way up until it almost touched her hip.

Raven had been surprised when she and Rona had arrived at a grand hotel hidden the mountains then dragged her inside and shoved a package into her hands, saying she had to wear it for their first activity together. She had not known what Rona was planning to do on their "mother-in-law & daughter-in-law quality time", but _tango lessons _had certainly not crossed her mind!

"Of course, dear," Rona giggled, adorning a hot red dress of similar style. "Besides, you have to learn the tango! It's tradition in the Xander family to hold the tango at weddings. It's our specialty."

Raven sighed, pulling the skirt of the dress, as she followed Rona towards a magnificent ballroom adjacent to the hotel. This dance tradition, of course, was unknown to her until now. She really needed to talk to Ryan more about his other family traditions once she returned home.

Once Rona pushed open the doors of the ballroom, a spicy, flowery scent overwhelmed Raven as passionate, seductive music played loudly. The fast-paced beats of violins and guitars blended with beautiful piano melodies and others filled her ears as the music vibrated throughout the room, filling her body with the urge to move. Even she couldn't resist a catchy beat.

"Rona! My darling!" a voice with alight Spanish accent called out. Raven turned and was surprised to find a man, his slicked back, graying dark wavy hair pulled into a tight ponytail and adorning a black turtle neck with matching black slacks, coming towards them. He grabbed Rona's hands in his own and kissed her fingers, "It's lovely to see you again."

"As you too, Mateo. My it's been ages!" Rona smiled and from the corner of her eyes motioned to Raven to come forward. "By the way, Mateo, I'd like you to meet my daughter-in-law-to-be, Raven Roth."

Turning towards Raven, Rona said, "This is an old friend of mine, Raven. He'll be teaching you how to dance."

"Right…" Raven murmured, becoming unsettled by the critical glare of Mateo. He approached Raven and walked a circle around her, scrutinizing her.

"Hmm…you have a nice figure, perfect for dancing, but obviously you have never danced before, have you?" Mateo stopped midstride and clapped his hands, a new song playing. "Alright! Shall we begin?" He held his hand out for Raven and she took it, scared for what was to come.

-X-x-X-

"To sever the ties of blood, One must die; One must live. Great power It must behold to stand on Judgment Day before Holiness. If It does not, the depths of Hell await. Death may be your Savior."

James looked back at the paper he had just finished reading then back at Lia. "Hmm, this is quite a puzzle you have here, love."

The two had long since left the club, opting for a quieter space in a mellow restaurant. Lia had just finished telling him the entire story of Raven and Tray, and the predicament they were in. She had then shown James the passage she had found, hoping he could help her figure it out. Two heads were better than one.

"So can you get anything from it?" Lia asked.

"Hm, well, I think it's a set of instructions not for just severing the blood pact, but for a sacrifice." James murmured in thought, his eyes scanning the passage again. "I mean, saying 'It' must hold great power to stand on Judgment Day…doesn't it sound like a sacrificial ritual?"

Blinking unbelievingly, for she had not thought of that, Lia said, "You're right. It does sound like that."

Continuing, James said, "And I don't believe that 'Judgment Day' is just that. I think there's more to it, like an actual specific date."

"Well…" Lia mused, thinking. "If you translate 'Judgment Day' to Azrathian…they make double words that also can be numbers…and if you then translate it back to English, you get March 13."

"That's a little under two months from now." James commented.

"And a week before Raven's wedding." Lia muttered remembering how Raven had mentioned that the wedding would be in the third week of March, the pieces of the puzzle slowly starting to come together.

"So then that's their deadline to sever their blood pact," James sighed. "In just two months their either marry each other or die."

"Or only just one of them." Lia corrected, thinking back to her cousin's plan. Lia looked back at the passage from the book. If she was able to solve this…if she was able to know what this passage meant, then maybe she'd be able to help Raven escape from the fate of having to die by her cousin's hands.

-X-x-X-

Jacob Erwin sighed as he looked through the various ideas his pathetic staff tried to pass off for worthy of his gossip magazine. Although each staff member tried hard to make each idea sound exciting and new, it was still the same as they always wrote. This celebrity was sleeping with this celebrity who was married. Or this celebrity had an illegitimate child with this celebrity, or this person who nobody even knew! It was all the same and nothing stood out to him.

How was his gossip magazine going to survive on crap like this? He needed something new! Something powerful! Something that would bring an angelic, good-standing figure to their knees. That's what he loved, reveling in the shame and embarrassment he caused for those people that everyone loved. How he loved to shatter their perfect images and taint their names. It was just riveting.

But how was he going to do that if he couldn't even get any concrete evidence or ideas?! Jacob Erwin sighed again.

"BOSS! BOSS!!! BIG NEWS!" Jacob Erwin glared at his intern, his nephew whom he had grudgingly promised his mom that he would give him a job, run into his office, shoving a manila folder into his face like it was gold.

"BOSS! Guess what's in here. Come on, guess!" his nephew squealed excitedly.

"Let's see…is it the mayor smooching his ex-wife's daughter again? Or perhaps it's the 'so called proclaimed' president's underwear? Oh! I mustn't ignore Batman's figurine collection being displayed in the city park this Saturday either!" Jacob Erwin muttered, listing off ridiculous things his nephew had brought to him before.

"Even better, boss!" his nephew smiled. "It's pictures of Ryan Xander with Hannah Wither! You know, the really rich, young businessman who is going to take over Xander Corporations one day? And Hannah Wither is the sole heir to HJK Five, the biggest and most successful agency in Jump! And—get this—Ryan Xander is supposed to be marrying Titan Raven Roth in just two months too!"

Now that was the gossip he wanted! Jacob Erwin snatched the folder from his nephew's hands and looked at the photos inside. True to his word, there were photos of Ryan Xander pushing Hannah Wither against the wall of his apartment bedroom, and the outfit Hannah Wither wore did nothing but make the photo look that more incriminating.

Snickering to himself, Jacob turned to his nephew and barked an order, "Hurry up and go tell the editors we have our front page story! Also, give these to Frankie and tell him to make these pictures pop! I want everyone to see this scandal!"

"Yes sir!" His nephew quickly left and Jacob Erwin settled back in his seat, satisfied. He could almost see the headlines on their next issue…

Jacob smirked as he thought, _Wonder how his Titan fiancée will react…_

-X-x-X-

Raven sighed in content as she submerged herself into the warm waters of the bath. After almost five days of tango lessons, dress fittings, picking out flowers and decorations, addressing and sending out the invitations, and just spending time together with Rona, she was getting worn out. Who knew being a bride could be so hectic? And Raven had been tiring out more easily now. She had noticed that after a couple of days she grew sleepier and half the time Rona had to drag her out of bed. She also ate a lot more now, but it probably due to her running around all the time and burning off all the calories, especially with those extra dance lessons since she had to learn the waltz and rumba as well.

Sighing, she closed her eyes, deciding to take a quick nap while she still had a break.

_-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-_

"Raven…wake up…"

Raven groaned as she forced open her eyes, shadowing them from the bright lights that isolated her. Her surroundings around the shaft of light around her were darkness as voices drifted to her from them. "Raven, you're so beautiful."

"Rona?" Raven murmured, looking around, but she couldn't see Rona.

"Look, Raven! Aren't you beautiful?" Raven turned, a mirror emerging from the darkness to stand in front of Raven.

Raven backed away, frightened by her own reflection. Her body trembled as she covered her mouth as her stomach churned. Her reflection was her in a lovely wedding dress, but instead of white it was tinted with crimson blood that seeped into the threads of the dress and clung to Raven. Blood dripped from her dress forming a pool around her feet, threatening to eat her up.

The voices from the shadows laughed as a haunting wedding march melody was sung. A familiar chorus sung out, the voices taunting:

_"She hears the sound of little feet_

_But first there's a bunch of corpses to eat_

_Guests line up to kiss the dead_

_The groom's men is the meal that's being fed_

_Up above the dirge sounds_

_Preacher says who can't be around_

_There was silence 'till the Death Angel came_

_And someone said, 'Here comes the bride._

_Dressed in her crimson veil_

_Made from her own man's hide.'."_

Screaming, wishing for it to stop, Raven covered her ears, hoping to block out the dreadful version of the song. She closed her eyes, wishing to see herself no more in the mirror. But blood, blood, and more blood was all she could see.

_-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-_

Raven gasped and shot up. She found herself back in the hotel bathroom, shivering for the hot water had become cold. How long had she been sleeping?

Shaking away the haunting memories of the nightmare she had been having, Raven got out of the bath and quickly changed. She was supposed to go with Rona to another dress fitting.

And she definitely did not want to be visualizing the bloody dress in her nightmare.

------------------------------------

"Raven? Are you okay, sweetie?" Rona asked, concerned at how much paler Raven was looking. They were in one of the various rooms of the hotel, once again fitting a gown on Raven. They were working with the skirt today, but the ladies were having trouble zipping up the back of the dress.

"I'm not sure, really…" Raven honestly answered, feeling as sick as she felt. Maybe she had caught a cold from staying in the bath too long.

"Rona…" one of the seamstresses murmured. "I think we got the wrong measurements for the bodice. It simply won't zip up."

"Oh dear, is there any way to stretch it?" Rona asked.

"It's delicate material. It'll rip if we stretch it. We'll just redo the measures and make it over again…Raven? Are you feeling alright?"

Raven leaned against the mirror, clutching her stomach that churned uneasily. "I don't feel so feel." Her vision blurred and she could feel the bile rising in her throat.

"Oh my god!" the seamstresses gasped in horror as Raven threw up all over the skirt they were going to work on and fainted.

"Quick, let's clean her up and put her to bed!" Rona commanded as she knelt beside Raven, worriedly looking at her condition. _Oh dear…_

It looked like their mother and daughter quality time would be cut short and Rona pulled out her cell phone and decided to call Ryan.

-X-x-X-

Tray looked at the earthly entertainment—a gossip magazine, he had heard humans call it—with amusement. So that woman, Hannah, was taking care of her side of the deal just fine.

The front cover displayed a picture of Ryan and Hannah looking too close to be "just friends" as numerous headlines and sub-headlines declared possible scandal after possible scandal, and each caused the writers to ask the same question: "What will Raven Roth do when she returns home to find that her fiancé was messing around with another woman?"

The thought of this outrageous lie caused Tray to laugh. His plan was already set in motion.

Once Raven returned, she would be his.

_**Meanwhile in Titan Tower…**_

"WHAT IS THE MEANING OF THIS??!!!" Nightwing screamed in anger as he waved the gossip magazine in front of the screen, "I thought you loved Raven!"

"_I __**do**__ love Raven!_" Ryan defended himself. "_Hannah took those pictures without my knowing so! I swear nothing happened, she had caught me by surprise._"

"Ugh, I know…I know…" Nightwing tried to calm himself. "But what if Raven sees this? How do you think she will react?"

"_Raven trusts me, she knows I would never do anything to hurt her._" Ryan responded. "_Besides, I can have this mess cleaned up before she even gets back. They're all lies anyway._"

"Not that the people of Jump will believe you." Nightwing sighed.

"_I don't care what they think. All that matters to me is that Raven believes me._"

"And what if she doesn't?" There was a moment of silence. Nightwing sighed, looking at Ryan, "I know it's wrong of me to say this when I gave my blessing…but Ryan, I don't think you guys should go through with this marriage. I've been thinking about that blood pact that Raven has with Tray and—"

"_We'll find some way to break it,_" Ryan growled. "_I __**will**__ not lose Raven to some pact she made over thirteen years ago!_"

"This is serious, Ryan! What if Raven really died from this pact, huh? Are you really willing to sacrifice Raven's **life** just so you can marry her?" Nightwing narrowed his masked eyes at the screen.

Ryan could not respond. How could he? Nightwing was right. But he had waited so long to make Raven his, and he had finally succeeded! Now he just had to give up? How could he?

"_Look…_" Ryan started, but was interrupted by his cell phone ringing. _"One sec._"

Ryan looked at the caller ID and was surprised to see it was Rona. She never used her cell phone unless it was an emergency. "_Hey, can you wait a minute Nightwing, I think this might be important._" Nightwing nodded and watched as Ryan answered it.

"_Hello? Rona? What's the matter?_" There was a long pause for the moment and then: "_WHAT???_"

_**If only they had all known what they didn't know.**_

**xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

**Alright, I tried to make this chapter as long as possible without giving too much away. But I'm got really excited when writing this so hopefully I'll have the next chap up soon! We're getting to the good part of the story. :D Hehe. **

**Also, thanks so much to those who reviewed and read my stories while I pathetically neglected them. I finally got around to checking my email and I was so shocked to find how many people had reviewed and sent me messages to continue my stories! Thank you guys so much! I promise to work much harder on finishing my stories this summer!!**

**But anyway, thank you for putting up with my lack of updating and reading and reviewing!**

**Ciao,**

**Xaleria**


	13. An Unexpected Surprise

**Haha, the funniest thing happened. I went back and reread the prologue of this story and realized I had named Ryan's cousin in the beginning "James". Whoops. XD Guess I really liked that name. So to those who may have been wondering…no, the Jameses (that sounds funny when you say it aloud. XD) are not the same James.**

**But I hope you enjoy this chapter! **

**Disclaimer: I do not own anybody but my own characters.**

**xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

**Chapter 12- An Unexpected Surprise**

Ryan paced back and forth as he waited in front of his father's mansion for Raven to return. His mind drifted back to the conversation with his stepmother:

"_Ryan, tell your father that Raven and I are coming home early."_

"_What's the matter?" Ryan asked. _

"_Well…I'm not entirely sure, but I think Raven's pregnant." There was a pause as the words registered into Ryan's head. Raven was pregnant…that meant with child…with child meant __**his**__ child…his child meant…_

"_WHAT???"_

After stumbling through phrases and words Ryan had asked to talk to Raven, but Rona told him that Raven had fainted and they were taking her to hospital to confirm Rona's worries then would head home afterwards.

"Pregnant…" Ryan muttered, testing the word on his lips. It didn't sound bad. He stopped in his pacing to try a different word, "Baby." That didn't sound bad either. "Mother." Now that definitely did not sound bad. He could imagine Raven being a great mother. "Father." But as the opposite, he doubted his skill.

Sure, he had been raised just fine by his father, who was a great man to look to for an example of a good father, but that didn't necessarily mean he would be a good father. What if his own child hated him? Or what if because he was such a bad father, Raven left him? What if…what if…what if…

"Ryan!" Raven's voice screamed out of nowhere. Ryan looked around, trying to look for a car, but was shocked when a swirling vortex opened right in front of him and Raven and Rona came flying out.

"Omph!" Ryan groaned as they landed on top of his sprawled out body. "Welcome…back…?"

"Raven…please…never do that again…" Rona murmured, getting up unsteadily onto her feet, but Raven wasn't listening for she had wrapped her arms around Ryan's neck and hid her face in his chest, trying to stop herself from crying.

"Raven," Ryan murmured worriedly. "Raven, are you okay?"

"I just missed you," Raven muttered, not looking up at Ryan. Sensing the need for them to talk, Rona quickly gathered her bags and went inside the house, leaving the two sitting on the steps of the Xander Mansion as the sun began to set. There was just silence for a while as Ryan rubbed Raven's back soothingly as she hugged him.

"Better?" Ryan asked softly when Raven finally looked at him. She nodded, resting her head on his shoulder as she sat beside him now. He cleared his throat, "Um…what Rona said on the phone today, Raven…is that…?"

"It's true," Raven whispered just so he could barely hear it. "We're going to have to have a couple of little feet running around your apartment soon."

Ryan kind of liked the sound of that. The worries he had had before quickly went away with that sentence. He was going to be a father…it awed him. The idea of being a father of a child he couldn't even fathom before, but now he felt as if the child were already born and he loved it. "So when exactly is it due?"

"He." Raven said.

"What?"

"It's a boy," Raven responded.

Ryan blinked, looking at Raven. "How do you know?"

"Demon babies develop faster than human babies. He's already a fetus and because of the demon blood I can tell what gender he is going to be. And even though he's only a quarter demon, I'll only be pregnant for sixteen weeks." Raven sighed.

"Four months?" Ryan was shocked. Four months before his child, no…his son was born. Four quick months.

Sensing the surprise in Ryan's tone, Raven looked up at him, "Are you scared?"

"No! No, Raven, never scared…it's just…this is such an unexpected surprise." Ryan murmured, still trying to grasp all this new information.

"You're…happy?" Raven questioned, reading his emotions and not comprehending. She had prepared herself for him being mad, shocked, appalled, or something! She hadn't thought he would be happy. She wasn't supposed to have gotten pregnant.

"Of course I am!" Ryan laughed, hugging Raven tighter. "How could I not be? You're here in my arms, carrying our child. _**Our son. **_How could I not be happy?"

"But…but…" Raven bit her lip. "Doesn't this ruin our wedding? What will people say when they find out we had a baby out of wedlock? What will that do for your reputation?"

"Raven, I don't care what people say or about what it does to my reputation," Ryan answered her, kissing her forehead to emphasize his caring towards her, "All I care about is that you and the baby are safe and healthy. That's all. Heck, we can still have the wedding since you already sent out the invites. I don't care what you'll look like; you'll still be the most beautiful bride to me."

Now Raven was sure there were tears in her eyes. She sniffled and cried, and Ryan looked down at her, worrying and panicking because he wasn't sure why she was crying. Raven never cried! Was she hurt? Raven laughed softly over his expression, and cried in his shoulder, Ryan looking down at her confused. "I love you, Ryan."

Ryan's face softened, the worry gone. He kissed Raven's forehead, "I love you too."

They stayed on the steps, discussing plans to buy a house, baby names, nursery room colors, and other things as the sun bathed them in a fading golden glow.

-X-x-X-

"WHAT?!" the titans chorused together as they stared at their engaged teammate, once again bringing them surprising news. Ryan and Raven stood with their hands linked, grinning like happy idiots.

"I'm pregnant," Raven repeated. "It's going to be a boy."

Starfire squealed and hugged her friend Raven, cautious of her strength, "Congratulations Raven! This calls for a celebration!"

"Congrats Rae," Cyborg smiled, ruffling his little sister's hair once Starfire put her down.

"Yeah, congrats Raven!" Changeling chimed in, giving Raven a hug.

"Thank you, guys." Raven smiled softly.

"Raven, does your pregnancy affect your blood pact?" Nightwing asked, deep in thought. Everyone stopped, not having thought of that.

"You know…I'm not sure…" Raven said after a while. "Something like this has never happened before."

"Maybe we should inform Tray, then?" Nightwing suggested.

Raven looked towards Ryan, who nodded to her. "I guess we should then."

-X-x-X-

Tray frowned as he stared at the crystal blue eyes of the stranger. Why was his cousin bringing a man home? An immortal man at that! Lia hardly liked bringing any type of man home. "Lia, who is this man and why do Whisperers cling to him?"

"Ah, this is my friend, James Bates." Lia introduced, watching her cousin carefully. She had always been the one who went to James' home, but since he had asked to take a look at the book, and Lia could not take it without her cousin noticing, she had brought him here.

James smiled at Tray, looking unaffected by his angry, critical stares. "How do you do, Tray Leon Reeves, son of Damascus."

"How do you know my name?" Tray hissed. His accusing eyes turned to Lia who shrugged.

"Jeez Tray, chill, it's just your name. It's not like he's cursing you." Lia muttered while rolling her eyes. James smiled as if there were a joke only he knew to what she said. "Now, if you excuse us, James and I are going to the library down below. You are not to bother us unless there's an emergency, understand?"

Tray huffed something and Lia emphasized, "Understand?"

"Yeah, I understand," he grumbled, keeping his eyes on James as they walked down to the library.

James whistled a disapproving tone as he and Lia walked down the stairs. "My, my, what a friendly fellow your cousin is."

Lia rolled her eyes, laughing at his sarcasm as they entered the library. She stopped in front of a shelf and pulled out a faded ancient book. "Here, this is the one."

"Hmm, let's see," James flipped through the pages, occasionally scanning some, until he found the passage that Lia had showed him. But that was it, there was nothing more on the page or on blood pacts. "Hm…strange."

"LIA!" Tray shouted from upstairs all of a sudden. "We have a problem!"

James and Lia both turned towards the doorway where Tray stood, looking enraged. "Raven's pregnant!"

Lia, who had gathered some books for research with James while he had scanned that one book, dropped all that she was carrying as her eyes widened with shock.

"Hmm…well that's an unexpected surprise." James commented.

-X-x-X-

The Titans turned to a spot in the living room as the wind wildly swirled around there, forming a tornado that rose up, then receded, revealing Tray and Lia (James had gone back home).

"Tray! Lia!" Raven smiled, hugging her two Azrathian friends. "So what do you think? Will this affect our blood pact?"

She was, of course, referring to the child that was growing inside of her. Although no one could tell now, Tray knew that by the end of the week she would surely start to show a growing tummy bump.

"Most likely so, Raven." Tray murmured as a look of thought came to his face. "I mean, children come before marriage in our culture, so it's possible this may help weaken the blood pact."

"Weaken?" Raven's smile fell.

"Well yes, a blood pact cannot totally be broken just by being pregnant with someone else's child. I believe the Spirits may be more forgiving if we break it, but I highly doubt it because the child is only a quarter demon and absolutely no use to them, even if he is descended from Trigon." Tray mused, crossing his arms. _Damn baby, this disrupts with my plans greatly…but no matter. The child may be beneficial if it turns out to be powerful…_

"I say we forget about the blood pact anyway." Raven firmly stated.

Tray's eyes widened, "Raven! You cannot surely be thinking that, can you? What if you die?"

"I will beg the Spirits to forgive us if it has to come to that." Raven shrugged simply.

"Raven, it's not as easy as that. Even if you are the daughter of the demon king, they will not allow for this!" Tray insisted. "In fact, demons aren't even supposed to marry humans!"

"That's in the past," Raven responded, glaring at Tray. "There is no law, today, stating that demons cannot marry humans."

"Raven, there is a reason why we make** blood** pacts," Tray said darkly, his expression angry but not for the reason they thought. "It's so that they **can't** be broken."

"Well then," Raven said matter-of-factly. "This is the one blood pact that the Spirits will have to tolerate being broken."

Tray, enraged that Raven was once again picking her fiancé over him, shook his head angrily and warned, "Whatever happens from here on out, you're on your own then, Raven. I **will not** lose."

No one understood his words as Tray thought, _I will get what I want Raven. Just watch me._

-X-x-X-

"ARGH!! That _**bitch**_! _**That demon bitch!!!!**_" Hannah screamed in fury as she tugged at her hair as if to pull them from their roots. "How dare she!? How could she get pregnant?!"

"Hannah…" Riley started, reaching out to comfort her. But she shoved his hands away and glared at him.

"Don't you 'Hannah' me, Riley!" she growled at him. "All the work I have done up till now is wasted! WASTED!!" She grabbed the gossip magazine with her and Ryan's pictures on them and pointed at them angrily, "This was all for naught! It means nothing now! No matter what I do now, Ryan will never come to me! He will pick the demon bitch and her spawn over me any day!"

Riley's eyes tightened angrily, his firsts shaking, "Why don't we just stop it then, Hannah? It's obvious you already lost Ryan, why not just move on from him?"

"To who?" Hannah spat, glaring at Riley. "To you? Puh-lease Riley, keep dreaming. The day that I say I truly love you is the die that one of us dies."

Riley frowned, knowing the truth of her words. He knew from the beginning that Hannah never did, and never would truly love him. It was futile from the start to think that he could change her mind, but what else could he do? He loved Hannah with a passion and he wouldn't be able to love anyone else, he knew so. He had tried so hard over the years to forget Hannah, to find another woman to love. But each relationship he had had ended with the same result: they all left him because they knew he never truly loved them. He was a fool, and couldn't do anything about it.

"Besides," Hannah continued with her words, looking down at the mark that showed her pact with Tray. "If I don't get Ryan…if I don't do what he says…I'll just end up in trouble."

"Hannah?" Riley said questionably, not understanding her words.

Hannah shook her head angrily, as if to shake away this new problem, "No matter, even if she's pregnant I will get Ryan. Riley, I want you to call up Tray Reeves. Tell him to meet me at the club Oceania. We have severe matters to discuss."

Sighing sadly, but submitting for he could do nothing else against the girl he loved, Riley said, "Yes, Hannah. I will do that."

-X-x-X-

"This is not good," Lia sighed. She had left the Titan Tower after awkwardly bidding Raven congrats, good luck, and goodbye. Her cousin's sudden enragement and leaving had caused quite a bad vibe among the Titans and Raven's fiancé. Surely he had given them a peek at what his true character was like.

However, that wasn't her problem. Her problem was Raven's little surprise. This disrupted with the blood pact badly. Like Tray had said, the Spirits may or may not be forgiving, but seeing as how her child was only quarter demon, Lia knew the spirits would not be. Unless the child had some great power; after all, he was the descendent of Trigon.

Lia perked up as she thought of that. The baby most likely changed Tray's plans of stealing Raven's powers since it affected their blood pact. But if the baby did turn out to be powerful and Tray decided to eat its life essence and takes its powers away too…that only helped his plan then. She really hoped that would not be the case.

"So, love, what do you plan on doing?" Turning around, Lia gasped with surprise to find James standing behind her, black Whisperers with their hooded faces and billowing limbs clinging to his body. One of them with wide, childlike eyes—much different from the sinister looks of the others—stuck to his shoulder with its head close to James's ear, as if telling him secrets, which it probably was. James smiled towards Lia, "The Whisperers are even more restless than usual. They sense a storm coming."

"They're probably right," Lia muttered, turning back to the sky she had been staring at. She had just teleported to a random roof, trying to think in her solitude. Well, now she wasn't alone anymore. "What exactly do your Whisperers tell you, James?"

"You know I can't divulge what the Whisperers tell me that much," James murmured, petting the Whisperer on his shoulder. It purred softly, leaning into his palm to be comforted more.

"Huh, knew it wouldn't be that easy," Lia sighed. The Whisperers were smart beings and even ranked higher than the Spirits because their omniscience. They didn't like conversing with lower beings such as demons, which is why the ability to Shadow Speak was rare. Only those that the Whisperers chose could hear their talk and in return for being given the ability to hear them, they burdened Shadow Speakers with their many secrets. However, while being chosen could be considered an honor, it could also be considered a curse for the Whisperers knew everything. Hearing them was like having a bunch of voices in your head telling you things that you never wanted to know. Many who could Shadow Speak—people whom Lia had learned about in her history lessons back on Azarath for they were that famous—became crazy or they died young. Shadow Speakers who were as sane as James were _**very **_uncommon to come across. In fact, she started to wonder why James had even approached her. Peeking from the corner of her eyes, Lia looked at James.

He seemed so godly and angelic with his fair hair, fair skin, and crystal blue eyes. Why had he even approached Lia in the first place?

James grinned then, and answered as if he had heard her thoughts, "You interest me."

"How so?" Lia wondered.

"You're not like most demons." James told her. "You're not power-hungry or searching for ways to climb up the social ladder. You're just content with what you already have, and you're more compassionate than most. That's why you want to help Raven, isn't it? Because she's your friend."

Lia blushed, wondering how he read her so easily. Sure, Lia was just like any other demon out there. She liked power—but not enough to steal them like her cousin—and she wasn't exactly a human-lover, but the Titans and Raven's fiancé didn't deserve to suffer Raven's death for such a dirty reason like her cousin's greed. What else was she supposed to do?

James laughed at the frustrated look on Lia's face and ruffled her hair, "That's what I like about you, love. You're always thinking of others and not just yourself."

"Whatever," Lia muttered, not used to compliments (after all demons never gave such sincere compliments to each other) and such affection. Turning back to the problem at hand, Lia turned to James, "James, I really need your help though. With Raven's pregnancy, this may either harm her or help her, but either way she's still in trouble. So I need you to help with something."

"Anything," James said.

Lia gulped, still somewhat uneasy about what she knew she had to do, "I need you to help me kill my cousin."

-X-x-X-

**Oceania**

Riley grumbled to himself as he crossed his arms over his chest, impatiently waiting for the man named Tray. A beer sat in front of him, untouched, as Hannah, who sat beside him and in the center of the semicircular booth, had three empty martini glasses in front of her already.

"Where the hell is he?" she muttered as she gulped down her fourth martini. She gestured to the waiter to bring her more and he did so. As she sipped it, Tray finally approached their table and slid in beside Hannah. She snorted, "Took you long enough."

"I'm sorry; I had some matters to take care of." Tray said coldly, his eyes narrowing at Hannah. He wasn't in a good mood after learning the news of Raven's pregnancy. He had to hurry up with his plan or else he would fail. "I quite like what you did with the magazine, but considering the new…problems that have arisen, it's practically useless now."

"I know," Hannah hissed, glaring at Tray. "You think I don't know that? So what exactly are we supposed to do now? This whole 'seed of doubt' thing won't work anymore. Raven will never believe it."

"We'll just have to skip the whole breaking them apart then and move towards the grand finale." Tray informed her.

"Oh? Grand finale? What's this?" Hannah questioned, sliding closer to Tray. Riley gritted his teeth together, not liking the sound of this.

"It's simple," Tray smirked. "What happens is this: a week before their wedding, I want you to lure Ryan Xander away from Raven Roth long enough so that I can kill her and the child and steal their powers. By then, Raven will be weaker, and the child will have had developed a great power."

Hannah and Riley's eyes widened with shock. Sputtering, Hannah grabbed Tray's shirt, "Wait, wait! You can't do that! Kill her?! You never said anything about killing her!" As much as she wanted Raven away from Ryan, to kill her was just going too far! It was inhumane!

"Oh yes I can," Tray gripped Hannah's wrists tightly, his finger nails digging into her skin causing her to flinch in pain. Riley moved forward to force Tray off of her, but he was suddenly pushed against the booth's cushion, unable to move due to Tray pushing an invisible force against him. Tray glared into Hannah's eyes, his eyes turning into a simmering crimson color, "Remember our deal, Hannah Wither. You've kept your side of it, so far, and this is all I ask of you from now on. You can handle a simple thing like getting Ryan away from Raven, can't you? Don't worry, I will keep my side of the agreement and give him to you."

Tray let go of Hannah as she trembled, staring at Tray in fear. "However, if you get in my way," Tray hissed, looking more sinister as the lights of the club turned red, highlighting his figure as if a cloud of blood surrounded him, "I won't hesitate to kill you and Ryan."

With that said, Tray vanished leaving Hannah trembling in the booth. Just like when the truck had been slowly getting closer to crushing her so many years ago when she was a child, Hannah felt fear paralyze her.

She loved Ryan. She wanted him. But could she actually let Tray kill Raven? Was she really that heartless?

She didn't know.

-X-x-X-

Lia sighed, opening the door of her apartment feeling more useless than ever. She and James had spent the rest of the day analyzing the passage from the book and trying to think of ways to successfully kill Tray. But it was harder than it sounded. Tray had become powerful since ever he left Azarath and started gathering a bunch of powers. He may even have powers she didn't even know about.

"Lia," Lia turned towards Tray, shocked to find him looking so deadly and serious that it sent shivers down her spine. "I need to use the downstairs library. I have only two months to gather my strength and make myself more powerful if I'm to kill Raven; so, I will be meditating downstairs until the time comes."

Lia's eyes widened with shock, "You're already preparing?"

"Of course," Tray snorted. "Raven may be half-human and thus weaker, but so am I. There's so many limits when it comes to using my powers. She also has a stronger demon bloodline than me. Killing her off won't be easy even if she's weak, especially if that child turns out to be powerful. So I will need all the strength I can get. I also need to start preparing for summoning the Spirits."

"But…but…" Lia stammered, trying to think of an excuse to stall her cousin.

"But what?" Tray narrowed his eyes suspiciously at her. "You already knew this was coming, Lia. And you can't stop me. You know that."

Lia tightened her hands into fists as they shook, "I know."

Tray made a satisfied noise then went downstairs to prepare for his meditating. Although she still had two months, Lia knew it was not long enough.

Since when in these kind of situations was the time limit ever long enough?

-X-x-X-

(A/N: From here on out, the bold words in the beginning will be the "wedding day" countdown.)

**January 21: 58 Days Left**

Raven sighed, leaning back to rest slightly. Pregnancy was tiring. It had been two weeks since the discovery of her pregnancy, but Raven appeared as if she were on her fifteenth week already had she been fully human.

Starfire had been kind and was refitting her maternity clothes to fit Raven as she grew since she was growing at an alarming rate that they couldn't get a definite size for Raven. Rona had also taken over most of the wedding planning that required Raven to run around. Even Ryan fussed and had taken a sabbatical from work to stay by Raven's side and pamper her, and as much as she loved him, she was starting to get irritated with all the unnecessary attention.

This was one of the few precious moments Raven could have to herself. After all, she had been a solitary person before she had met Ryan. Looking towards the night sky from the window, Raven wondered what the baby would look like. The demon blood could only tell her so much. Would he be a mini Ryan? Or would he look more like her?

As she became absorbed with the various possible pictures of the baby that popped into her head, Raven was a little surprised when the lights turned off and everything became dark.

"A blackout? Raven, you okay?" Ryan called out. Raven heard some thumps and crashes followed by an "ouch".

"I'm fine here on the couch, Ryan. Don't worry." Raven said to the darkness. She heard Ryan sigh in relief and then mumble something about flashlights and candles. "I have some candles in the nightstand next the bed."

She heard some more thumps as Ryan felt along the walls of the bedroom towards the nightstand. He opened the drawer and immediately felt cool wax against his fingers. He grabbed a couple of candles and a candelabrum, sticking them on there. "Hey Raven," he called out as he left the bedroom and entered the living room, "Do you have any matches?"

Before Raven could answer, the candles suddenly burst into flames, almost causing Ryan to drop them. "Holy--!" He stared at the candles, the fire having settled down and now flickering flames on the wicks. He stared back to where Raven was, now able to see her face and seeing that she was shocked as much as he. "Raven…did you do that?"

"N-no…" Raven stammered, staring at the candles. "I mean…I was faintly thinking of lighting them when you said matches…but I don't have that kind of power…but I felt a power surge…" Eyes widening in realization, Raven stared down at her tummy. "Ryan…" she gasped in wonderment. "I…I think that was the baby."

"Wh-…what?" Ryan stared at the candles, then at Raven. "The baby?"

As the two started to chat in excitement and wonderment to each other over this new discovery about their child, a voice outside murmured to himself, "Hm…just like I thought. Of course a descendant of Trigon would have a great power." The man's eyes tore away from Ryan's apartment window where he had been spying on Raven and looked towards the darkening sky. "This does not look good."

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**I'm glad for once this chap seems longer. Anyway, I know there's not that much in this chap so that's why I added more near the end. :) I wasn't sure exactly what kind of power to demonstrate in this chap but while I was looking for the baby's name, I found something surprising and it seemed like fate! So the baby's powers do reflect his name. **

**Anyway, thank you all so much for reading and reviewing! I'm so happy you stick to this story despite my lateness. XD**

**Ciao,**

**Xaleria**


	14. The Right Thing

**You will both love me and hate me for this chap. That's all I gotta say for now. :D Read on!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own anybody but my own characters.**

**xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

**Chapter 13- The Right Thing**

**February 7: 41 Days Left**

"Ugh," Raven groaned as she leaned away from the toilet bowl and leaned against the shower. Morning sickness sucked. It had woken her up at various times throughout the night last night making her sleep through the morning and half the afternoon the next day. What sucked even more, though, was that Ryan was called away to an emergency meeting this morning too. Even though he had taken a sabbatical, it seemed some customers only liked dealing directly with him. He had left her such a note on the nightstand.

Raven sighed and slowly got up, flushing the toilet and then washing her face. She then walked out of the bathroom and into the bedroom, spotting a calendar on the wall. "Oh!" she gasped as she spotted the date. How could she have forgotten such an important date? What was she going to do now?

_I know,_ Raven thought to herself as she quickly changed into a new outfit and pulled her hair into a ponytail. She then went to the kitchen and pulled out various things from the cupboards and fridge, prepping to fix up a meal. For the next few hours she toiled away in the kitchen as the neighbors wondered what all the clamoring was for.

"Finally," Raven smirked with satisfaction as she looked at her completed spread of food. She stood near the end of the table where a chocolate cake coated with a white whipped icing and decorated with red words and various garnishes was.

After cleaning up the dishes, Raven rushed to shower and change into a decent outfit. Just as she finished setting up the table for the meal, the door clicked open as Ryan sighed, "I'm home." He looked up and was slightly surprised to find Raven standing next to the table where a meal was spread out.

Raven smiled brightly, going to him to take his suitcase and put it away and kiss him on the cheek, just like you see in those old-fashioned housewife movies. "Welcome home, Ryan."

"What's the occasion?" Ryan asked as he stared at the table, looking back at Raven in wonder.

Raven chuckled, "Should have figured you'd forget your own birthday."

"My birthday…?" Ryan paused in thought as he realized he had forgotten his birthday. He had been so caught up with wedding plans, the baby, and Raven's blood pact that it had completely slipped his mind!

Raven smiled, grabbing Ryan's hand and entwining their fingers together. "Happy Birthday, Ryan."

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY!" The two jumped in surprise at the sudden outburst, turning around as a loud pop resounded through the room, the champagne bottle Vincent Xander was holding bubbling over. Vincent and Rona Xander smiled happily from the open doorway.

"Dad, mom," Ryan said with surprise. "What are you guys doing here?"

"Raven called us over saying we'd have a small party for you, Ryan." Rona answered, winking towards Raven who smiled. "Besides, this will be the first birthday in a while that we celebrate together!"

Ryan blinked at first, and then laughed, motioning for his parents to come in as they all gathered around the table, talking and chattering about the past and future, feeling like a family already.

-X-x-X-

**February 21: 27 Days Left**

"Um…it appears that the baby is developing…normally…" Doctor Jacqueline Mathewson reluctantly informed Raven and Ryan. She had been told by Raven that demons developed the same way as humans, just quicker, but she was still surprised by the rate of growth. However, once she saw the picture of the baby she automatically went back into routine mode and started pointing out how the baby was growing to Ryan and Raven as they listened, entranced.

"I estimate that the baby will be ready for delivery by April 17." The doctor informed them after working out the sixteenth week long pregnancy Raven would have, scribbling some notes onto a notepad. She then ripped the piece of paper from the pad and held it out towards Raven. "Here you go, Ms. Roth. Although I'm not entirely sure how this works for your kind, here are some precautions you should be aware of."

"Thank you, Dr. Mathewson." Raven smiled gratefully to her. The doctor's eyes softened as she smiled back.

"No, thank you, Ms. Roth. This will be one of the most interesting deliveries I've ever made. I can't wait to see how your child grows."

Again, Raven and Ryan thanked her then left. Rona was waiting for them in the waiting room. Once she saw Raven, Rona hooked her arms with Raven's, telling Ryan, "We're going to refit Raven's dress so you absolutely cannot come with us, Ryan!"

"But—" Ryan started, ready to argue.

"No buts!" Rona insisted. "You cannot see Raven in her dress until she's walking down the aisle! Oh, jeez Ryan, stop giving me that speculating look. It's not like Raven will go into labor pains while we're trying on her dress. It's much too early for that."

After careful thought, Ryan finally sighed in defeat, "Fine, I'll wait for you at home, Raven."

Rona then dragged Raven out of the doctor's office and into a car where they then proceeded to drive towards the Xander Mansion. They arrived within half an hour.

"Rona, I'm really grateful for taking care of the wedding planning for me." Raven commented as Rona guided Raven towards the room where she would be trying on the dress. "If not for you, I wouldn't know what to do."

Rona laughed softly, "Oh no, Raven, I'm grateful towards you. This is every mother's dream." Rona paused for a moment then quietly asked, "Has Ryan ever told you how I came to be with Vincent?"

Raven rose an curious eyebrow at that statement. "No." Now that she thought about, she remembered Vincent telling her that Rona was not his first wife and had learned that his first wife had been nothing but a greedy bitch, but she had never learned as to how Rona and Vincent met.

Rona smiled bitterly, "I see. Raven, is it alright with you to tell you my story?" Raven nodded in response, sensing that although Rona politely asked, she really wanted to talk to Raven.

Rona began her story as they slowly walked through the halls of the Xander Mansion: "I did have a husband before Vincent; we had married at a very young age, eager to start a family together. But after countless tries, I couldn't get pregnant. Then the doctor told us I was infertile. It was impossible for me to give birth. The news broke my husband's heart, and because of that he rejected me. He started seeing other women and didn't bother hiding it." Raven could feel the hurt Rona had gone through; it was excruciating. Like someone was ripping at her chest to pull out her heart. Rona's eyes were sad, her smile crumbling, but she continued to tell Raven, "At first, I refused to face the truth. I foolishly stuck by my husband until finally he introduced the new woman he was to marry to me. She was already pregnant with his child then. He wanted to start a family with her. I had no choice but to divorce him then. I couldn't stand the looks on their faces when they mentioned their child. They looked so happy; I couldn't destroy that…I almost about gave up on love and threw myself into my work, becoming isolated from anyone else…but then I met Vincent. He was the first to be so patient and caring towards me since my divorce with my husband…" Rona smiled more softly then as the memories resurfaced in her head.

**-------------------------------**

_Rona sighed to herself as she looked at her coworkers congratulating a young woman. Marie was her name, and she had just found out a couple of days ago that she was pregnant. The office was holding a congratulatory party for her before she went on maternity leave. Like usual, Rona was separated from the rest, standing in the far corner of the room with an untouched cup of punch in her hands. _

_The cups, purchased by Marie's friends in the office, were decorated with pictures of blue or pink baby accessories like bibs and pacifiers. Rona brushed the tips of her fingers against these wistfully, sighing again._

"_Aren't you going to join the party?" a deep, husky voice asked. Rona almost jumped in surprise, not used to anyone approaching her. Since she had divorced her husband, she had become what she heard her coworkers call her "a lifeless robot". Nobody wanted to talk to her anymore. Looking up at the stranger, Rona noticed he was very tall. His black hair seemed unkempt, but upon closer look Rona noticed that it was actually just styled casually and unruly to give him a kind of childish but sexy edge. And his deep baby blue eyes were piercing, staring straight into Rona's own blue ones. _

"_No…I'm not really a party person." Rona murmured to answer him, staring back at the group that surrounded Marie. _

"_I see. Well then, I'll stay here with you." Rona looked back at the man in surprise but he merely grinned at her. Feeling uncomfortable, Rona looked away and tried to forget his intimidating presence beside her. Unconsciously, her eyes drifted back to Marie. She wondered what the baby would look like. Would it be a boy with her dark curls and maybe her husband's grey eyes? Or perhaps a girl with her husband's golden locks and her hazel eyes? _

"_Do you have any kids of your own?" the man interrupted her thoughts. _

_Rona again turned to the man beside her and answered in a sadder tone than she had intended, "No…I don't." _

"_Ah…I see," the man mused. "I have a child: a son. He's almost eight now."_

_With the topic of kids coming up, Rona forgot her "no-nonsense-strictly-business" façade and started to question the man about his son. They chatted happily together about kids, finding that they had the same parenting beliefs. _

"_What about your wife?" Rona then asked, and immediately the expression on the man's face hardened. _

"_We're divorced." Rona's faced softened, understanding what that must have been like for him. _

_The man then turned to Rona, asking, "What about your husband?" _

_Rona smiled bitterly, saying, "We're divorced as well."_

_There was silence after that, and then the man chuckled, "Well what a coincidence that we two divorcees end up meeting. Seems like fate, huh?" _

"_Maybe," Rona responded, smiling at him because she couldn't help it. He made her want to smile and laugh—something she hadn't done in a long time._

"_By the way," the man continued. He turned to face Rona entirely, "I never got your name."_

_Rona stuck her hand out and he shook it, "Rona Garner." _

"_Rona," the man said, smiling widely, "that's a beautiful name. I'm Vincent Xander." When they unclasped their hands, Vincent said, "It was a pleasure to meet you."_

"_You too," Rona murmured, kind of wishing that this wouldn't end. She liked this man who hadn't been scared away by her emotionless self. Perhaps he'd even be able to help her become who she once was again._

**-------------------------------**

Rona and Raven stopped in front of the doors to a room as Rona's story came to an end. There was silence for a moment as Rona reminisced and Raven contemplated on this new piece of information. Rona then smiled though and quickly brushed aside the topic, "Ah, but that's the past. What we need to focus on is the future."

Taking Raven's hands in hers, Rona said to Raven, "I'm sure you and Ryan will have a great future together. I just know it."

The firm tone of Rona's voice almost made Raven believe her, although there was still the thought of the blood pact that nagged at Raven in the back of her mind.

She wondered about the Spirits and now thought to herself, _Do I have the right to ask for forgiveness?_

As if it had sensed her insecurity, the child inside Raven kicked causing Raven to cry out in surprise as her hand automatically flew down to her belly.

"Raven, are you okay? Does it hurt?" Rona questioned, quickly fussing over Raven.

"No, no, it doesn't hurt. I was just surprised." Raven reassured Rona, staring down lovingly at her stomach. She rubbed it soothingly as if to calm the baby and reassure him that his mother was alright.

What was Raven doubting for? Of course she had the right to ask for forgiveness. She was carrying a child. A life. The Spirits couldn't punish her, no matter if the baby was a powerful demon or not. They just couldn't. She was sure of that.

-X-x-X-

"Ugh," Lia groaned as she tried to force herself to stay awake. Her eyes drooped as her chin slid off her palm. Realizing what she was doing, Lia slapped her cheeks and pinched them to force color into her cheeks. She looked back at the book but the words were becoming blurred. After all, she had stayed up countless hours trying to solve the passage from the book and look for ways to kill Tray but to no avail. She still didn't understand the full meaning of the passage nor had she found a sure-fire way to destroy Tray.

"Lia, you need to rest." Lia turned to look at James who stared at her worriedly. Since finding out that her cousin would start meditating, Lia had gone over to James' house more often. In fact, this past week she had stayed there studying and meditating herself, but being a full demon unlike Tray, she was getting drained easily from not feeding on life essence.

"I can't rest," Lia said frustratingly, scratching at her head wildly as if that would help her think. "I have to find a way to save Raven! I have to stop Tray…"

"But don't kill yourself in the process!" James chastised, pulling Lia away from the books and taking her into the kitchen, where James had already set out a cup of blood to reenergize Lia. "Here, drink."

Lia nodded her thanks and drank. She felt a little better after she had finished the cup. James sat and watched her the entire time. "Lia," he started. Her eyes turned to him. "I'm sorry but can you go back home for today? There are some things I need to take care of and I'm not sure how long it will take me."

"Are you okay?" Lia asked, looking at him curiously. This was the first time James had ever talked about himself. Now that she thought about it, she didn't know much about James besides that he was Shadow Speaker and he was a valuable helper to her cause.

"I'm alright, love," James smiled charmingly. "It's your friend, Raven, I worry for. I'm just going to be gone for a while to see if I can help her."

"Help her how? What can you do?" Lia questioned. Not that she thought James couldn't do anything, but you had to be very powerful to defy the Spirits.

"That's what I'm going to find out, love." James then, to Lia's surprise, kissed her forehead in a reassuring way. She knew she was blushing afterwards because she could feel her cheeks heat up, but she ignored it and instead tried to focus on what James was saying. "Don't worry, I'll be back. For now, you should stick close to your cousin and try to stall him as much as possible. I don't think we'd be able to kill him…but I think I know someone who can."

"What? Really? Who?" Lia shot question after question, but James just shook his head.

"A surprise, love." James paused, thinking for a moment. He then turned to the Whisperer on his shoulder—the one with childlike eyes—and from what Lia could see she deducted they were having a conversation. After a few silent moments, James smiled and held his palm out to the shadow, "Thank you, Mattie."

The shadow bobbed its head—a nod of acknowledgement, Lia assumed—and slid onto James' hand. James then held out the Whisperer towards Lia, causing her to stare at it in confusion for a moment. "Here Lia, I'll give you Mattie for the time being while I'm gone. He'll help protect you."

"Oh…thank you," Lia murmured in wonderment as she cupped her palms, allowing the shadow to slide into her hands and crawl up her arm until it rested on her shoulder. Its billowing limbs tickled her.

"If you're ever in trouble, Mattie here will tell the others and they'll tell me. That way I can come over to help you as fast as possible." James smiled.

Lia looked at him, shocked by this action. She hadn't expected James to be so helpful and care so much. "Thank you…" Lia told him softly, still not used to being to affectionate towards another of her kind.

James just smiled and ruffled her hair.

-X-x-X-

**February 28: 20 Days Left**

"Oh! I felt him kick!!" Kari looked up at Raven in wonderment, her hand on Raven's swelling tummy. She clapped her hands together, "I can't wait to see your baby, Aunty Raven! Do you think he will look like you or Uncle Ryan?"

"Who knows," Raven laughed. With the baby in her stomach, her powers had become weaker to support the child's demonic part. She could express most emotions freely now without anything exploding, which was good because she had terrible mood swings. Ryan had dropped Raven off at the Titan Tower to spend the day with Starfire as he and the other Titan guys ran off to do a "project".

"Raven!" Ryan almost ran into the room and swept Raven up in arms, but then remembered she was pregnant and settled for kissing her instead. He laughed happily as he helped Raven off the couch.

"Ryan, what's going on?" Raven asked, surprised by his sudden energy.

"You'll see," Ryan said, a mischievous spark in his eyes. "It's a surprise."

He then proceeded to guide Raven to the garage of the Titan Tower where everyone else was waiting already in a van. "What's going on?" Raven asked as Ryan led her to a seat and sat down next to her. Cyborg then started the car and they drove out of the tower heading towards an unknown direction.

"Like I said," Ryan smiled. "It's a surprise." Raven stared at him suspiciously, but waited to see what he was talking about. After about ten minutes, Raven saw a quaint, slightly rich-looking neighborhood. The houses here were more spaced out and fancy cars were seen in every driveway. At the end of the street, isolated from the rest of the houses so that there was a good half a mile distance from them, was a house. It was a gorgeous Italian style villa with a "house in the woods" feel to it. The moment Raven saw it, her eyes widened in surprise, tear of happiness forming in the corners of them.

"Ryan…is that…?"

Ryan smiled happily, "Yup, that's our home. You can thank mom and dad though, they made it for us."

"It's beautiful…" Raven murmured as the van came to a stop, the doors opening. Ryan stepped out then offered his hand to Raven. She took it and they stood for a while on the driveway, staring at the place that would become their home with their baby.

"Home sweet home, huh?" Ryan murmured as he wrapped his arm around Raven's shoulders.

Raven laughed at the cliché, but loved it nonetheless, "Yes, it's our home."

Ryan smiled, "Want to see the inside? It'll shock you even more." After a nod of approval from Raven, Ryan rushed her as fast as possible inside and started to explain the design and meaning behind everything inside. Turns out the project the guys had been working on was moving everything from the apartment to here, although there were some extra furnishings that Ryan had not had before that had been placed in the house. But Raven didn't really take note of the glamour or the richness of it, although it was nice. She just liked the fact that she had a home. A home she could call hers. It made her feel all fuzzy inside, and the baby kicked unexpectedly as if it agreed with Raven's thoughts of home.

_Yes, _Raven thought as she stared down at her belly. _It's our home, baby._

-X-x-X-

**March 6: 14 Days Left**

The days were going by so fast. Where was the time going? Hannah stared at the calendar. There were only fourteen days left until the wedding, and only seven days till the day she would have to lure Ryan away so that Tray could kill Raven. She had tried not to think of it since their meeting at Oceania, but since the day was coming closer, Hannah couldn't forget it.

"What am I doing?" Hannah said to herself, putting her hand to her forehead. "Am I really going to let her die?"

The thought of Raven being dead sent chills down Hannah spine. She may have tried to get Ryan through dirty tactics, but never before had she allowed someone to kill off a rival! Would she be able to live with a guilty conscience? And what about Ryan? Was there really any guarantee that he would love her if he found out it was her fault that Raven died in the first place? Tray did say that she would get Ryan…but he never said anything about making him love her. And as much as Hannah wanted Ryan…she realized it would be useless if Ryan didn't love her.

But what could she do?! If she didn't fulfill her part, Tray would kill her! She didn't want to die! He would kill Ryan too, and that would only just make things worse.

From afar, like always, Riley watched Hannah with worry in his eyes. Although she didn't tell him, he knew what Hannah was worrying about. He wished there was some way he could help Hannah, but he didn't know how. In fact, he didn't even really understand what was really going on! He just knew it wasn't good.

But whatever it was, he was determined to do anything to protect Hannah. As long as she was alright, then nothing else mattered to him because that's what a fool in love does. For a moment, Riley looked back on what he had done since the start of Ryan's engagement and regretted having ever threatened Ryan to break him and Raven up. He had thought Ryan was selfish for picking a woman over his friends…but wasn't that exactly what he was thinking of now? Didn't he pick Hannah above everything else, even Ryan who had been his best friend since ever he could remember?

Riley paused in his thinking then concluded if he ever got the chance he would apologize to Ryan. After all, it was the right thing to do.

-X-x-X-

**March 12: 8 Days Left**

Tray opened his eyes from his meditation, feeling powerful and energized. He had gotten done a day earlier than expected, but no matter. He would still get what he wanted. Looking out the small window of the downstairs library/meditation room, Tray noted that it was already nighttime. His cousin was probably asleep.

Getting up to his feet from his lotus position, Tray stretched out all his tense muscles and then went up the stairs and entered the living room. There he found his cousin sleeping on the couch.

_What's she doing sleeping there? _he thought. But he shrugged and went in search of a blanket. When he found one, he placed it over his cousin, brushing some stray hair out of her face. When his hand brushed against her forehead, the memories hit him like a ton of bricks.

He saw Lia researching ways to break the blood pact and trying to find ways to kill him. He saw the man with the Whisperers aiding her. He saw everything that screamed "BETRAYAL!" from his cousin's memories. She wanted to stop him…no, _**kill**_ him.

Tray pulled his hand away from Lia, disgusted and not wanting to see more. How could _she_? How could _**she**_ betray _**him? **_They were _**family**_ for Azar's sake! Family did not try to kill each other!

Tray angrily looked back at his cousin, tempted to reach out and kill her right now. But no, he needed to save his strength for tomorrow. Tomorrow his cousin would see where betrayal gets her. She would see…

Unbeknownst to Tray, a hooded black figure knew what he was thinking of and slipped off of the couch Lia slept on and slowly slithered to the corners of the room, speaking in hushed whispers to the other shadows there.

-X-x-X-

**March 13: 7 Days Left**

Hannah sighed to herself as she looked up at the tall, intimidating doors of the house. After having woken up very early, Hannah had gone to Ryan's apartment only to have the landlady tell her that he and Raven had moved, but thankfully the landlady had their new address. Hannah hesitated as she reached for the doorbell.

"You okay?" Riley asked from beside her. He was a part of her lure to get Ryan to leave Raven alone.

"I'm…I'm fine," Hannah said, for once not confident in her words.

"Hannah," Riley started slowly. "You know, you don't have to do this."

"No…I have to…" Hannah muttered, her resolve quickly crumbling. Oh god, she was going to kill someone, even if not directly. But she was going to allow someone to kill Ryan's fiancée! She couldn't do it! She couldn't! But…if she didn't…she'd die. Ryan would die, and eventually Raven would too. Wasn't it better if only just one of them died instead of all of them dying?

Before she could convince herself again that this was wrong, Hannah pushed the doorbell and heard a muffled ringing from inside. She then heard the thud of footsteps and the lock click seconds later.

"Hello?" Ryan opened the door and immediately frowned when he saw who was there. But there was something different about Hannah today. She almost seemed…nervous and scared.

"Ryan…" Hannah started slowly, her lip trembling and again her mind telling her not to do this. "We…we want to apologize…C-can we t-talk?"

Ryan stared at his two best friends. Hannah's eyes looked so sincere for once, and Riley appeared just as serious as he breathed out, "Please, Ry…just a quick talk with just the three of us."

"I-I don't know…" Ryan hesitated. "I mean, Raven's pregnant and I really shouldn't leave her alone…"

"It's okay, Ryan, you should go."

"Raven!" All three turned to look at the woman as she appeared out of a hallway. Hannah was shocked by how big her belly had become and another pang of guilt hit her. Oh god! It wasn't just Raven she was killing, but their child too! A poor, innocent baby! Hannah almost wanted to tell Ryan to forget the talk and run away…run away from the danger…but fear kept her mouth firmly shut as her body trembled.

"Are you sure?" Ryan asked, looking torn apart. Half of him wanted to stay by Raven's side, but the other half of him missed his friends. He wanted to talk and work things out between them.

Raven smiled reassuringly at him, "Yes, go on, Ryan. It's just a talk, you won't be long."

"Alright…" Ryan said reluctantly. "Call me if there's any trouble, okay?"

"Yes, yes, now stop worrying." Raven urged her husband to leave, waving her hands 'to shoo'. Ryan looked back at Raven worriedly again, then left with Hannah and Riley.

Now you would think that as Hannah walked away from the house, she would feel less tense, having fulfilled her side of the deal, but with each step all Hannah could feel was the guilt eating away at her as the image of Raven smiling with a baby in her belly flashed in her mind. _Dear God…I am a terrible woman._

-X-x-X-

Lia yawned and stretched as she slowly opened her eyes. She scratched her head in puzzlement for a while as she tried to remember what she had last been doing. Looking down at herself, Lia also wondered where the blanket had come from. And where was Mattie?

"Good morning cousin." Lia whirled around and almost fell off the couch, staring at her cousin in surprise.

"Tray! What are you doing up so early?" Lia exclaimed in shock. She then quickly said, "I thought you would still be meditating."

"Oh, I finished meditating last night and came up to see how you were doing." Tray said nonchalantly, looking innocent.

_Oh, _Lia thought, peering down at the blanket. _Was he the one who put this on me?_

"You know," Tray started slowly, getting up from his resting position of leaning against the wall and walking steadily towards Lia. "I saw something very interesting last night, Lia."

Lia watched as Tray's fingers grew and became sharper, almost like daggers. Lia's eyes narrowed as she nervously said, "Oh, did you?"

"Yes," Tray smiled sinisterly, sending chills down Lia's spine. She had a bad feeling about his mood. Now she suddenly wished she had listened to James and had rested more. Her powers and strength were not exactly at their peak, and with Tray's mood, a battle seemed inevitable. "Something about my cousin plotting to kill me." Tray was now only a foot away from Lia, glaring into her eyes. His eyes had turned to a deadly crimson.

He's going to kill you, a voice whispered in Lia's head. Run! Run!

Following the voice's orders, Lia quickly flew off the couch and headed for the door, her cousin running after her. The advantage of being a full demon was that she was faster, but she hadn't known that he could stretch out his body like putty. Tray grabbed her leg, causing her to fall and dragged her back towards hm.

"You can't run away, Lia. You know that." Tray hissed as he aimed his dagger like fingers at her. Lia quickly rolled away, Tray's fingers lodging into the wood floor. Getting back up on her feet, quickly, Lia put up a protection barrier around her. That would ward Tray off for a while. She watched him pick at her barrier, his face pissed. She didn't have much time, what could she do?

He has fire powers. The voice said again. Watch out.

Lia turned to look at her cousin just in time to see him light his hand with a magic fire and throw it towards Lia's barrier. Lia screamed in pain as her brain felt like it exploded, the barrier cracking. Thankfully though, with the warning, she had become more alert so the barrier hadn't completely crumbled, but it was weakened. She had to start fighting back soon, but who knows what other kind of powers Tray had!

"Lia!" Tray screamed from outside of her barrier, wind rushing around him and thunder sounding throughout the room. Lighting flashed in front of Lia's eyes, blinding her.

His lights will break your barrier…YOU MUST FIGHT BACK!

Sure enough, the barrier crumbled and as soon as it was down, Lia was tackled to the ground. She screamed as three of Tray's five dagger fingers lodged into her shoulder. Blood started to soak around his fingers.

Fight back, Lia! Bash his head with yours!

Following the commands of the voice once again, because it was helping her, she threw her head forward and knocked it into Tray's own head, causing him to pull back. The dagger-like fingers were pulled out of Lia's shoulder and she bit her lip to keep back a scream of pain. She had to fight Tray. Jumping quickly to her feet, Lia grabbed the closest thing to her, a crowbar (now where that had come from??), and launched herself at Tray, swinging it.

She was able to hit him a couple of times, but Tray soon pushed her against the wall with an invisible force, causing her to drop the crowbar. _Shit, _Lia thought, _He's telekinetic too?!_

She struggled in his hold and tried to break free, but it was useless. Tray walked menacingly up to her. "This is what happens when you betray your family, cousin." Tray glared at Lia, deliberately putting his face close to hers so that she could see how angry he was. "You should have known you wouldn't be able to defeat me."

Lia laughed, spitting out some blood that had gathered in her mouth. "Even if I can't kill you, Tray. Someone out there can, and one day someone will. You're a no good demon anyway, stealing people's powers, not relying on your own strength but strength that you _**steal**_ from oth—"

Lia was interrupted when Tray slapped her. Her cheek turned purple and there were scratches where the tips of his dagger fingers had scraped her. His dagger fingers then gripped her arms, tearing into her flesh causing her to flinch in pain but her eyes did not waver as she stared defiantly at her cousin.

"**No one** will ever beat me." Tray declared. "No one."

Lia smirked, trying to show courage although she knew she would die now. It was over for her. "I'll see you in hell, _**cuz**_."

With that word, Tray snapped and growled as he thrust the dagger fingers into Lia's sides. She jerked back, her eyes growing wide with shock. Tray pulled them out slowly, watching her cry out in pain. She then became limp, not dead but suffering from the loss of so much blood. Tray disintegrated the invisible force and watched as Lia fell to the ground. For extra measurement, Tray then stomped on Lia's legs and listened to the satisfying cracks and Lia's screams as she withered in pain, her legs broken. "I hope you rot in hell, bitch."

With that said, Tray turned on his heel and walked out of the apartment, leaving his broken and bleeding cousin and heading towards Raven.

**xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

**So finally we have some action! :D I'm think this chapter turned out pretty good. We had the sad moments, happy moments, and suspenseful moments. Ah…but I kinda hate myself too because I made Tray appear almost human in this chap that it makes me sad that he's the bad guy. :( I can't bring myself to hate him that much because although he's an evil greedy bastard at times, he still has a nice side to him (I mean, he did put the blanket over his cousin and once he was a loyal best friend to Raven). Ah, but I need a truly evil antagonist so oh well. :P**

OH! And BTW, everyone! I have started writing the story "The Others" which will consist of short stories of the minor characters of any of my stories (but mainly "Big Sister is Pretty", "Baby, Be Mine", and "Violence Fetish"), so I will be posting a poll to see which characters' stories (other than ones I have already planned out such as Lia [BBM] and Tessa [VF], and these are the only ones I have planned out so far) you guys would like to know! Please check out my profile and vote so that way I know which characters **you** guys want to read about, and not just the characters I want to write about. Thank you!

**Anyway, thanks for reading and reviewing everyone! :D Till next chap!**

**Ciao,**

**Xaleria**


	15. Finality

**Alrighty! I think this is the last chap, people, but I had fun while it lasted! :D I hope you guys enjoyed it too! Thank you so much to everyone who stuck by me in this story! I LOVE you guys!**

**Now onto the next and final chapter!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own anybody but my own characters. Please do not steal them. :(**

**xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

**Chapter 14- Finality**

Raven almost jumped as thunder sounded and lighting clashed outside. _There must be a storm coming_, she thought,_ the sky had been cloudy earlier today. _She sighed in annoyance, hoping the weather wouldn't be this bad on the wedding day. Raven peered out the window as lighting flashed by again. "Maybe Ryan should have stayed after all…" Raven murmured, worried.

Suddenly there was a huge boom as the windows all flashed with the bright lighting. The lights flickered off, leaving Raven in the dark. "Shoot," she hissed. "A blackout." Sighing again with annoyance, for there was nothing she could do but wait until the lights turned back on, Raven felt around the living room until she found the couch and sat down.

Raven stared down at her stomach and rubbed it, wondering when Ryan would return. "_Raven,_" a scared voice whispered in her head. It was Fear. "_Something's here…_"

_What? _Raven thought, her head spinning around to search the place out of habit. She couldn't see anything.

"_There's something out there!_" Fear screeched in Raven's head. But Raven couldn't sense anything because her powers were very weak. She didn't have a lot of strength.

"Raven," a harsh and raspy voice whispered in her ear all of a sudden, sending chills down her spine. Raven couldn't move, something was pinning her down to the couch. Cold hands wrapped around her neck, and Raven's eyes widened with shock as a face appeared out of the shadows so that their noses were touching.

"Tray."

-X-x-X-

Hannah gripped the steering wheel so tightly that her knuckles turned white. Her eyes shifted from looking at the road to Ryan in the mirror frequently. She had no idea where she was going, she was just driving down a lonely road.

"What did you guys want to talk about?" Ryan asked, wondering what was going on with his friends. They were so quiet…something was suspicious.

"Hannah?" Riley ignored Ryan's question and instead worriedly looked in her direction. Hannah was trembling, tears forming in the corners of her eyes. Never before since her accident had Hannah looked so weak.

"I can't!" Hannah cried out suddenly, the car jerking to a stop. She pressed her head to the steering wheel as tears spilled from her eyes, "I can't! I can't do it!"

"Can't do what? What's going on here?" Ryan asked, getting panicked and irritated. What were they hiding from him?

"W-w-when I saw Raven…the baby…I-…I-I just can't…" Hannah's body went into spasms as she cried harder.

"Can't what?!" Ryan said more angrily this time. "Hannah, what's going on?!"

Hannah lifted her head for a moment, and Ryan was shocked by the many emotions that filled Hannah's eyes, but the one that stuck out the most was guilt. "He's going to kill her," she whispered. "Tray is going to kill Raven."

That was all it took for Ryan to snap. He didn't even question how Hannah knew Tray and what he was going to do, he just got out of the car and opened the driver's door, roughly demanding, "Move Hannah. I'll drive." Hannah did as he said and moved to the back. Once Ryan was in the driver's seat, he didn't even bother to buckle up, he just did a quick U-turn and sped towards the house, praying to God that he wasn't too late.

While driving, Ryan took his cell phone out of his pocket and dialed a number, growling, "Hurry up!" when the person on the other line didn't answer after the first ring.

"_Hello?_" Nightwing said on the other end.

"It's Ryan," was all he said for an introduction. "I need you to get whatever powerful weapons you guys might have and get over to the house, fast! Raven's in trouble!"

"_Trouble? What kind of trouble?_" Nightwing inquired.

"This isn't the time for questions!" Ryan hissed. "If you don't get to the house soon, Raven is going to die!"

After those words, the phone beeped, signaling that Nightwing had hung up.

-X-x-X-

Was she dead yet? The searing pain that shot up her body when she tried to move told her that she wasn't yet.

_How could I have been so stupid_? Lia thought as her mind drifted back to the fight earlier she had had with her cousin. How long ago was it? Minutes? Hours? Was Raven already dead? Dear Azar…why hadn't she just rested and saved her strength!?

Lia lifted her head up slightly, her vision blurring a bit. Was this it? Was she finally going to die?

Hardly, a voice snorted in her head. You may be broken to bits, but eventually your body will heal. Don't move for a while. Help is coming.

Lia's eyes widened as she realized it was the voice from earlier that had helped her during the fight. _Who are you?_ Lia thought. _And how did you know what was happening?_

How rude. How can you forget me? I've been beside you ever since James gave you to me.

Lia's eyes widened as she exclaimed, "Mattie?"

Yes, who did you think I was? Lia looked shocked as the hooded shadow suddenly appeared in front of her eyes, its head bobbing.

"How…how can I hear you?" Lia asked, the pain momentarily forgotten over this new discovery.

I gave you the ability to shadow speak. Mattie told her matter-of-factly. I had to help you during your fight. James trusted me to protect you…though fat lot of good my help did. You still had your ass kicked.

The way Mattie spoke highly contradicted his innocent looks as he tilted his head to the side, almost looking like an adorable plush toy.

"Wait," Lia said, going back over Mattie's words. "You said help was coming. What do you mean by 'help'?"

James of course. Mattie rolled his eyes, as if this information was obvious. I informed him last night when I saw that Tray would find out what you were up to. He's returning from the Underworld as we speak.

"The Underworld?!" Lia gasped in shock. She moaned as a sharp pain hit her. She had moved her legs.

I told you not to move! Mattie scolded, his black tentacle-like limbs stretching out towards her legs, soothing them as they wrapped over the wounded places. That will help make the pain tolerable, but I don't have the ability to heal so don't move them or else they'll just get worse.

"W-why…" Lia panted, her strength wearing out even more. She had forgotten the stab wounds Tray had given her. She had lost too much blood already. "Is James in the Underworld?"

This piece of news shocked her, for only high status beings such as the Spirits and Whisperers could travel back and forth from the Underworld. Other immortals such as herself only saw the Underworld when they died and were on their way towards hell. No demon could set foot in the Underworld because they did not have the social standing for it. Did this mean that James did?

Mattie paused in thought, his head tilting up to signify that he was thinking. I can't tell you.

"Why not?" Lia demanded.

Because James doesn't want me to. Mattie said, his voice sounding amused.

"Are you talking to him right now?" Lia asked, her eyes growing wide. Never before had she heard of someone who could speak to a Shadow that wasn't directly attached to him! Most of the time, when Shadow Speakers wanted to correspond with another far away, they had to speak through other Shadows who passed the information to other Shadows until eventually it reached the other person. It was almost kind of like a telephone line.

Yes, Mattie informed her. Although I am not directly attached to James, we can still speak to each other because we are bonded.

"Bonded? What's that?"

It's when Shadows pick someone who they will stay with eternally. I picked James, so our connection is much more deeper than other Shadows. Mattie explained.

"Oh," Lia mused, thinking. "Wait, since you gave me the ability to Shadow Speak…does this mean I will always have this ability or can you take it away?"

You will always have it. Once the ability is given to you, no one can take it away. That is why there are so little Shadow Speakers, because we don't give the ability to those who don't deserve it.

"Wow…cool…" Lia murmured, feeling like she had been honored.

Hm…

"What? What's going on?" Lia asked as she looked at Mattie, who was in thought.

It seems your cousin reached Raven, and Raven's fiancé has found out what Tray's true intentions are.

"Wait, Raven's not dead yet?" Lia tried to move up but hissed in pain when she fell back down. Her legs were still broken after all.

Mattie glared at her for moving but answered her question, No, she is still alive. Tray will not kill her off immediately. He wants to wait for her fiancé to return so that he can watch them suffer. It seems he was going to kill all of them from the beginning.

Lia's heart almost stopped. Of course. How could she believe that her cousin would spare Raven's fiancé? He was going to kill them all of course! He reveled in people's pain like that! She had to stop him! But damn her weakness right now.

"Mattie! We have to do something! Go to Raven and protect her! Do anything! Just save her!" Lia begged.

I cannot do that. Mattie shook his head sadly. My mission is to stay with you, and besides, even if I go to Raven, I can only give her advice, I cannot save her. And no matter what I tell her, she cannot do anything either with that baby. He is supported by her powers. If she were to use any of them, she is basically taking away life essence from the baby's demonic side.

"But…but!" Lia bit her lip in worry. At this rate, Raven was going to die!

Don't worry, Lia. Mattie reassured her. Lia looked at his childlike eyes. Remember, James is still out there. He can help Raven.

Mattie was right. The only thing Lia could do now was hope that James wasn't too late.

-X-x-X-

She couldn't believe it. Fear had been right all along: Tray had become evil. Raven eyed the dagger finger that precariously hovered near her neck, poised as if to slit it at any moment. Tray had alit the room with a soft and harmless glow, allowing her to see him fully.

"This would have been so much easier had you picked me instead, Raven." Tray sighed, lowering his head so that he was eye to eye with Raven. "But since you picked your fiancé, I guess you'll just have to suffer the consequences."

"What exactly do you want, Tray?" Raven asked coldly, glaring at her used-to-be best friend.

"And here I thought you were smarter than that." Tray made a "tsking" sound with his tongue, shaking his head disapprovingly as he stood up straight. He smiled wickedly as he looked down at Raven. "Of course, I want your powers and the child's too if he has any. Imagine, to have the powers of Trigon's legacy. I'll be even more powerful than I am now."

"That's all you care about?" Raven growled angrily. "Power?"

"What else is there to care about?" Tray smirked. "Isn't that what the priests on Azarath taught us? That power is all you should care about?"

"I thought you didn't like those priests." Raven narrowed her eyes at Tray.

"I didn't. That's exactly why I killed them." Raven's eyes widened with shock.

"Y-you…you killed them!?"

Tray's smirk became wider, "Aw, don't give me that look Raven. Aren't you happy to be free of those priests?"

"Not if I'm a prisoner of you." Raven hissed, glaring at him and wishing it could kill him.

Tray paused in thought, tilting his head as if he were listening for something. He smiled widely, showing his teeth, and got up from his resting position against the wall. "Don't worry, Raven. Soon you won't be my prisoner anymore, although I can't say the same for your fiancé. I would sure love a new toy to play with once you're gone."

Raven's eyes widened with shock as her head turned towards Tray, who was waiting by the front door, a deadly look on his face and his dagger fingers poised, ready to go for the kill.

-X-x-X-

When Ryan screeched to a stop in front of the house, he realized the lights were off. Was he already too late? Had Tray killed Raven? Where the hell were those Titans!?

Shaking the thoughts from his head, Ryan ran out of the car and towards the door, throwing it open. The moment the door was fully wide opened, a strong wind threw Ryan outwards, his body landing on top of Hannah's car. He groaned as he rolled off and hit the pavement. Hannah screamed in shock, her and Riley rushing out of the car.

"I knew you wouldn't do what I asked, Hannah Whither." Tray sighed, coming out from the shadows of the house and stepping onto the driveway. "You have a conscience, you're weak."

"Killing them is going too far!" Hannah screamed, stamping her foot in frustration. "You never said you would kill Raven!"

"And what did you think I was going to do to her?" Tray asked, his hand reaching out towards Hannah. Hannah gagged as her throat became constricted, her body slowly levitating off the ground. Her feet kicked back and forth as she clawed at her neck, trying to make him let go.

"Let her go!" Both Ryan and Riley growled as they both barreled into Tray, sending him backwards that his control over Hannah slipped and she fell to the ground, gasping for air.

Tray growled and turned on Ryan and Riley, lashing out at them with his fire powers. The two quickly dodged, getting into a routine fighting mode. After all, the two had taken judo and karate lessons since they were young together. They had trained together; they knew each other's movements as they swiftly dodged Tray's attacks like synchronous dancers.

"Ryan!" Nightwing called out in surprise when the Titans finally reached the scene. They quickly rushed to help their friend in need, but Tray placed a barrier around them, occupying them with tearing it down. It would be a while before they escaped, which was good. Tray didn't want any more distractions for they would limit his use of power if he tried to fight too many people at the same time.

While he was distracted with the Titans, both Ryan and Riley went in for an attack. However, Tray saw this and grabbed Riley's arm and threw him towards Ryan, knocking them both back into the walls of the house.

"That's enough!" Tray snarled as his crimson eyes grew brighter, the fire in his hands growing bigger. The ground began to shake vigorously as a chasm opened in front of Tray, smoke hissing. Everyone just watched this new development, too shocked and unable to move as Tray pressured his power against them all leaving them trapped. Tray drew signs into the air that glowed brightly.

"Don't let him complete those signs! He's summoning the Spirits!" Raven yelled as she ran out of the house. Being occupied with the fighting outside, Tray had let go of his hold of Raven.

"Raven!" Ryan looked back at Tray who had spotted Raven out of the corner of his eyes. He threw his fire power at her, and Raven felt paralyzed as Ryan tried to run towards her. But he couldn't move! Raven was going to burn!

Suddenly Tray's fire exploded, coming into contact with a wall of fire.

"What?!" Tray growled. "What the hell is this?" His eyes turned towards Raven, noting that she was glowing with the magical glow. But that was impossible. Raven was weak and shouldn't have her powers, unless…it was her child! His eyes widened with realization. That meant the baby was indeed powerful, and never had he seen such power from an unborn child! Tray had to get his hands on that power.

Beckoning Raven with his finger, she was pulled towards him by his telekinesis. "Raven!" Ryan shouted out, but he was pushed harder against the walls of the house by Tray. Raven was pulled into Tray's arms as he smirked.

"So it turns out that the child is powerful. Well, this is better than I expected!"

"You can't have him!" Raven protectively held her stomach.

"You have no say in the matter, Raven, dear. Now help me finish these marks." Tray grabbed Raven's arm and as much as she struggled against him she couldn't break free; she was practically human with her depleted powers! Raven let out a yelp of pain as Tray cut her arm, rubbing his fingers against the blood and making some more symbols in the air. He then cut his own arm and rubbed Raven's fingers in it, guiding her hand to write out the final symbols.

Once the last line was drawn, the symbols glowed and meshed together, soaring down the chasm where they would call upon the Spirits. Tray smiled, lowering his head and whispering in her ear, "Remember what I said about not being my prisoner anymore, Raven?"

Raven's eyes widened as she finally realized what Tray was doing. He was going to sacrifice her to the Spirits. After all, she had been the one who had broken the blood pact by choosing Ryan. Tray had done nothing. They would offer her powers to him as compensation for losing her. He didn't need to get his hands dirty at all! The Spirits would do it all for him!

Raven stared down at the chasm as it hissed more wildly, something surging within it. She had to cover her eyes as white lights flashed and bathed everyone. It was already too late. The Spirits were here. Tray had won after all.

-X-x-X-

Lia's eyes fluttered unsteadily as she slipped between life and death. Her legs were beaten and bruised, beyond repair it almost seemed. The blood from the stab woods had encrusted around the edges and turned to a very dark red that it almost appeared black.

"Mattie," Lia breathed as she closed her eyes. "Am I going to die?"

Although earlier Mattie had implied that she wouldn't die, she didn't feel so confident in his words right now.

Are you going to let yourself die? Mattie asked, sounding like a serious, ancient philosopher asking for the meaning of life.

"Stop with the bullshit," Lia hissed. "Don't answer my question with a question!"

Jeez, no need to get bitchy. Mattie rolled his eyes. You're not going to die. Shadow's honor. And you know I cannot lie.

"Then why do I feel like I'm dying already." Lia moved her head to press it against the cool floor. What was going on outside? Had everyone defeated Tray already?

Tray has not won yet, but then again, neither have your friends. Right now, the future can go either way, but the deciding factor is how helpful James turns out to be.

"There you go again saying things I don't understand," Lia opened her eyes and looked at Mattie. "Exactly how can James help? How powerful is he? Why did he go to the Underworld?"

Mattie became quiet.

"Please Mattie," Lia breathed. "I need to know this. To see whether Raven has a chance or not. I need…I need something. Please…"

Mattie shook his head, as if he were sighing. All right, I will tell you. Mattie straightened and almost looked taller than he was for a moment. James is not an ordinary immortal. He is much more powerful than my kind, and even has the power to defy the Spirits as long as there is good reason to.

"He's that powerful?" Lia wondered in amazement. "Just **who** is he?"

Mattie chuckled, You may not believe this…but James is what people believe is the "Grim Reaper". Of course, he really has no name, but since ever the belief of a God of death was birthed, this name has been tacked to him by others.

"Grim Reaper?" Lia repeated, not believing it for a moment. Weren't such things a myth? There really was a God of Death? Lia's eyes suddenly shoot open as she realized something. The passage in the book had said something like, "Death may be your Savior." She had been taking the word 'Death' so literally before, but with this new piece of information, she realized that 'Death' was not actually dying but "Death" himself!

The Grim Reaper.

-X-x-X-

Raven had to stop herself from wanting to laugh. It was the wrong kind of situation to laugh in, when her life was on the line. But the way she had imagined the Spirits in her head was nothing like this! They reminded her of those various Santa Clauses that stood on streets ringing bells to gather money.

The Spirits, some stout and short and others tall and lanky, all had the same white robes that you kind of expected people of religion to wear instead of demon lords, and long white beards that touched the floor. Some of them had moustaches as well. Their faces were unclear, always seeming to change once in a while.

They were not really the intimidating image Raven had built up in her mind, until they spoke.

"_**What does a half demon such as you, Tray Leon Reeves, son of Damascus, want with us**_?" The deep, bellowing voice of the Spirit caused Raven to shiver in fear. She could hear and feel the power resounding in their voices. They were the kind of demons you did not want to mess with.

"My lords," Tray said respectively, bowing his head. "I come to you with a sacrifice."

"_**A sacrifice**_?" Another Spirit said, his eyes traveling to Raven who was still clutched by Tray. He frowned, "_**You better have good reason to sacrifice the sole daughter of our Demon King Trigon, Tray Reeves**_."

"I do, my lords." Tray's head was still bowed. "She dares to break a blood pact made in your honor."

"_**What!**_" the Spirits bellowed, such an atrocity never happening to them.

Tray looked up this time, looking disgusted, "And with a human man, no less."

"_**A human?!**_" The Spirits looked at each other in disbelief. Never before had a demon broken a blood pact over a human.

"My lords," Raven quickly said, trying to think of a way to convince them of Tray's true intentions. "You do not understand. Tray—"

"_**SILENCE!**_" Raven was almost blown off her feet with this yell. Her body trembled in fear as an automatic response to the power of their voices. "_**You may be the daughter of Trigon, Raven Roth, but do not forget you are also half human as well. You have no right to break our laws.**_"

"I beg to differ, my lords." At that moment, everyone turned to the newcomer. No one had even seen the blond man before as his blue eyes seemed serious yet playful. The black robe he adorned contrasted with his ivory skin.

"You!" Tray hissed as he recognized him as the man his cousin had been plotting with. "What are you doing here?!"

"Zip it," was all the man said as he motioned his hand in a "zipping" action. Tray's mouth was suddenly shut closed and he clawed at it to open it, but it wouldn't.

"_**James,**_" the Spirits acknowledged the newcomer. "_**It has been centuries since we last met.**_"

"Ah yes, I remember." James smiled as he reminisced. "Last time I showed up, I took your poor victim away from you. I'm terribly sorry about that my lords, but it is my duty to gather the souls who die, despite who's after them."

"_**Yes, we know.**_" The Spirits sighed irritably. "_**What brings you here today?**_"

"Another one of my missions, actually." James said merrily. His eyes turned towards Raven. "I'm sorry to say this, my lords, but you cannot take Raven Roth today."

"_**And why not?**_" The Spirits demanded. "_**She has broken our law!**_"

"Very true," James noted. "But so has that man standing beside her. I'm sure you were unaware of this, but did you know he has been gallivanting around the universe stealing the powers of others? Doesn't that taint your image? If others were to know that the Spirits had allowed this man to kill others and steal their powers, wouldn't that make you look bad in the eyes of your followers?"

The Spirits looked at each other, knowing that what James said was the truth. They looked towards Tray, their faces angry. "_**So, Tray Reeves, did you mean to steal Raven's powers as well by offering her as a sacrifice?**_" They didn't need an answer for the look on everyone's faces answered their question. "_**I don't see why we shouldn't kill both of you.**_"

"Uh-ah, my lords." James scolded. "Like I said, you cannot take Ms. Raven Roth today. She cannot die today, but Tray Reeves you can gladly take. I was scheduled to collect his soul today anyway."

Tray angrily looked at James, wishing he could kill him, but that zipping effect he had put on him seemed to have numbed his senses so he could not feel his powers and call upon them.

"_**And why can we not take Raven, James? Is there a good reason to let her live?**_" The Spirits turned towards the Death God who smiled as happily as can be.

"In fact, there is." James looked at Raven and smiled softly. "This woman carries a powerful child. I believe this child has a greater purpose than you may think, which is why Raven Roth does not die until much, much later. I think this child will grow up to be a wonderful demon that will make you Spirits proud."

The Spirits thought of this, silently conversing with each other with their eyes. After a few silent moments, the Spirits turned towards Raven, "_**Raven Roth, because of this new revelation, we will forgive you and unbind you from the blood pact you had with Tray Reeves.**_"

Raven looked at the Spirits, not believing her ears for a moment. She was…forgiven? She could live? She was safe? She almost broke down and cried then, but she kept her composure and bowed to the Spirits, "Thank you, my lords."

The Spirits smiled at her, but then turned on Tray, "_**As for you Tray Reeves, as punishment for breaking the law and attempting to manipulate the Spirits, we hereby banish you to the depths of hell where you suffer a thousand deaths for the rest of your life.**_" White chains clasped around his feet, wrists, and neck, bonding him for life. The chasm opened wider, the Spirits beginning their descent and dragging Tray with them.

Tray couldn't believe it. Because of that stupid Shadow Speaking bastard, he had lost! He had lost! All his years of work! "No!" Tray growled, the zipping effect James had put on him gone. His dagger-like fingers had returned, burning with his fire power so that they were blazing white. "I will not go down alone!" Thinking he was aiming for Raven, the Spirits put a protective barrier around her, but Tray instead whirled around and aimed at Hannah, who had been frozen with shock and fear where she had fallen after Tray had let her go.

Hannah's eyes widened as the hot blood splattered against her face. Tray's blades were pulled out as he was dragged faster down the chasm, screaming bloody murder. The chasm closed with a resounding boom, the floor retuning to its original state. A body fell into Hannah's hands.

"R-…Riley…" Hannah hands shook as she looked down at the man. There were five bleeding holes in his chest. He smiled weakly at her, the blood from the wounds dripping onto her fingers.

"Ha," he winced but smiled nonetheless. "I guess I am a stupid fool after all."

"N-no…Riley, you can't die!" Hannah screamed, the information finally registering into her head. She looked up at the Titans, Raven, and Ryan who all had shocked faces like her. She turned towards James. "Save him! You're some kind of Death God, right?! Can't you save him!?"

James sighed, shaking his head sadly, "I'm sorry, but I only collect souls when it's their time. I cannot stop death."

Hannah shook her head disbelievingly, and turned to the rest, "Raven! Can't you heal him! Can't you do anything?!"

"My powers are already weak and I can't heal wounds to that extent!" Raven sadly told her, wishing that she too could do something.

"No!" Hannah screamed defiantly, the tears spilling from her eyes. "This isn't right! I should have died! I…I should have died…" She sobbed.

"Hannah," Riley's weak voice called out. Hannah looked down at him, grabbing his face in her hands. He smiled like he usually did, as if he weren't dying, saying three simple words: "I love you."

Hannah cried harder, hugging Riley as tightly as she could. "No, no, no! I love you, Riley! Don't die, please, dear God, don't die! I love you!"

Riley smiled, closing his eyes, "You finally told me you loved me. I knew it."

Hannah looked down at him, feeling like more of an idiot that ever. Why now? Why did she have to realize that she really did love Riley when he was dying?! Was fate really so cruel?

"Ry?" Riley said quietly, trying to turn to look at his friend.

"I'm right here, Riley." Ryan quickly knelt down next to his friend, grabbing his hand. Although he tried hard to keep his usual face, his eyes were clearly sad and clenched tightly, wanting to cry themselves.

Riley smiled and said between coughs, "I'm sorry, Ry. I'm sorry I was so selfish. I hope you can forgive me."

Ryan looked down at his friend, squeezing his hand, "Of course I forgive you."

"That's good," Riley murmured as he became less tense. "I guess I can die in peace now."

"Don't say that!" Hannah interrupted. "Don't say that like you're going to die!"

Riley smiled gently, reaching up to stroke Hannah's cheek softly. Using Hannah to steady himself and Ryan supporting him, Riley sat up slowly and wrapped his arms around Hannah, whispering in her ear, "It's alright Hannah, I'll still be with you." He squeezed his arms tighter around her and rubbed her back soothingly as if to reassure her. Hannah's lip quivered, tears threatening to spill from her eyes again. Then suddenly Riley's grip loosened around her.

"Riley?" Hannah said softly, wanting what his loose grip meant to not be true. Panic started to grow in her as she shook him a little. "Riley?"

"He's gone." Hannah looked up at James, his face grave. "He's already gone."

James' words only finalized everything and Hannah cried out, sobbing into the chest of Riley's dead body. "Why!? Why him!? Why not me!? Why not me!"

Nobody could answer her questions, only watch sadly as Hannah cried beside Riley's dead body until she could cry no more.

-X-x-X-

**March 17: 3 Days Left**

"Now say 'Ah'," James smiled as he held out the spoon full of soup towards Lia, who looked pissed. After the whole event with Tray, James went to Lia who, at the time, thought she really was going to die. James had then patched Lia up by healing her stab wounds and hooking her up to an IV to replace all the lost blood, but her legs were broken beyond his ability to repair so she was stuck in casts and in bed for the time being with James taking care of her. She would be fully healed in a couple of days though because she was regaining her demon strength.

"I'm not a baby, James." Lia muttered as she crossed her arms. "And it's my legs that are broken, not my arms so I can feed myself."

"Aw," James pouted. "But this is more fun, love."

"Fun?" Lia snorted. "How is it fun?"

James smiled and answered her simply, "Because every time I shower you with affection, you blush, and it's cute." Lia blushed at his words and he laughed, causing her to swipe the soup bowl from him and grumble something about 'crazy weird death gods', but her cheeks were still rosy.

A knock on the door caused Lia to sigh in relief as she chimed, "Come in."

Raven popped her head in and smiled at Lia. "Feeling any better?"

"I would feel a lot better if James over here wasn't treating me like a baby." Lia shot a glare in said man's direction, but he just smiled in response.

Raven chuckled and came into the room holding flowers. James took those from her and went to go put them in a vase as Raven and Lia talked. They discussed the wedding and the baby.

"By the way, Lia, I'd like to ask you something…"

"What is it?" Lia tilted her head in curiosity, something she had picked up from Mattie.

"Would you like to be my maid of honor?" Raven asked. "I mean, you did so much for Ryan and me. I would really love it if you were my maid of honor."

"Raven…I…" Lia was shocked, for the lack of a better word. She hadn't expected this, but she smiled at Raven, "Of course I will be your maid of honor! Thank you for thinking of me!"

Raven smiled back, "No, thank you Lia."

"Did you hear that James?" Lia asked as she spotted James in the doorway. He smiled at her.

"I did. Congratulations, Lia."

"Not only that," Raven turned to James. "Ryan was wondering if you'd like to be his best man, James. He feels like he owes you after saving me."

James laughed heartily, "You can tell him it was pleasure and that he doesn't owe me. But if he would like me to, I will be more than happy to be his best man." James paused then, and carefully said his next words, "By the way, how is Ms. Whither doing?"

At the mention of Hannah, Raven face was saddened. "She…" Raven looked at her feet. "She's become reclusive. She won't even talk to Ryan."

"I see," James looked at Raven. "I noticed you were wearing a black dress today."

Raven, surprised he had said this, looked down at her simple black dress with her belly sticking out. "Yes, today is the funeral. I just stopped by for the quick visit. Ah…actually, I should leave now. Ryan is probably getting impatient."

"Oh, okay," Lia murmured. She had learned what had happened about Riley from Mattie. She wished she could have done something saved him, but it was too late now.

Raven bid James and Lia goodbye and headed back out to the car. As she slid into the driver's seat, she saw that although he tried not to look like it, Ryan had been crying. His red, puffy eyes were a tell tale sign.

Raven smiled gently, and grabbed Ryan's hand, entwining their fingers together. She rubbed his hand soothingly with her thumb and she felt him squeeze her hand in response. There was no need for words. Just this silent communication.

-X-x-X-

There were many tears at Riley's funeral, but not a single one of them came from Hannah. She had cried all the tears she seemed to have left when Riley had died.

"Isn't it just sad?" an old woman said to another. "He was so young. Full of promise."

The other woman shook her head, "I know. Wonder how he got caught in the middle of a gang war. I heard five bullets went right through him!"

Hannah almost wanted to burst out laughing then. So that's how they thought Riley had died. Of course they couldn't tell them that Riley had gotten stabbed by a demon—no one would believe it. Hannah was now the only one standing in front of the grave, the others having left to go to an after party where they would reminisce over Riley. She didn't want to remember. It would only bring up the memories of how she had ignored her feelings for Riley and treated him like crap. How she waited until he was dying to tell him that she loved him. No…she didn't want to relive those memories.

"Riley…" Hannah murmured as she fell to her knees in front of the grave, staring at the epitaph on the gravestone:

_Riley Alexander Summers_

_June 15, 1999 – March 13, 2020_

_A wonderful son and friend who will never be forgotten. _

_May he live on in our hearts._

Hannah chuckled bitterly. Did she even have a heart left for him to live in? "Riley…" she said sadly, her voice cracking. "I'm sorry." She looked up, wanting to cry but her eyes dry. Why couldn't she cry?

"Are you alright, miss?" Hannah's head spun up, looking at the man standing beside her. The sun blinded her for a moment but from the man's silhouette, he kind of looked like…

"Riley?" Hannah murmured disbelievingly.

"I'm sorry, what?" the man said. Hannah stood up this time and was disappointed to find that she was wrong. It was not Riley. Of course it wasn't.

This man had a similar build to Riley, but he was different. He didn't have Riley's creamy skin; instead, he had a caramel tone. And while Riley had green eyes and blond hair, this guy had dark brown hair with honey-colored eyes. He clearly wasn't Riley…yet why did Hannah feel like she was standing with Riley right now?

"Miss, are you alright?" the man repeated.

Hannah finally reacted to his words, looking at him, "No…I'm…" she trailed off. She was going to say she was fine, but she didn't feel that way. "I'm not alright."

The man tilted his head slightly with a curious look on his face. Hannah almost wanted to rub her eyes and see if she was seeing things. For a moment, she had been reminded of Riley. That kind of thing seemed exactly like something he would do.

The man looked down at the grave and once he saw what it said, he asked, "Your lover?"

Hannah looked down at the grave as well, "Sort of."

"Sort of?" the man questioned. Now normally one wouldn't talk to a complete stranger about their dead lover, but Hannah felt the need to talk and the man didn't appear bad.

"He always loved me, but I didn't know that I loved him until he died." Hannah smiled bitterly. "He died in my arms, you know? And that's when it hit me: I didn't want to lose him…but I was already too late."

After an awkward silence, the man murmured, "I'm sorry…you know…" The man paused for a moment before offering, "You could cry on my shoulder if you want to."

As if that was what her tears were waiting for, Hannah burst out crying, clutching the stranger's shoulder as he wrapped his arms around her, rubbing her back soothingly. They acted like they had done this before and nothing was awkward about it. The man patiently waited until Hannah's sobs subsided.

"I'm sorry," she said as she rubbed her eyes, glad she had not worn any makeup. "I ruined your jacket."

"It's alright," the man smiled. "It seemed like you really wanted someone to cry on."

Another awkward silence ensued. Hannah just realized she had cried on a complete stranger's shoulder and had told him about Riley dying. Why had she done that? But for some reason, he didn't feel like a stranger. Hannah shook her head. No…how could she be thinking of another man when Riley had just died?

As if he had read her thoughts, the man said, "You know…if I were your lover, and I had a died, I know you would be sad about me dying, but I would want you to move on and continue to love because that's what's best for you."

Hannah turned to look at the man in surprise, as if the words have come from Riley himself. Thinking he had said something weird, the man quickly added, "I mean, that's what I think your lover would want you to do."

Looking at the sheepish man, Hannah wondered if this was a message of some kind from Riley. Was he telling her it was okay to move on? To love again? Hannah looked back down at the grave, then looked back up at the man and smiled softly, "We never introduced ourselves. I'm Hannah Whither."

The man looked at Hannah's outstretched hand in shock, but he shook it nonetheless with a happy smile, "David Levine."

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Levine."

"Likewise, Ms. Whither."

-X-x-X-

**March 20: WEDDING DAY!!**

"Raven, you're going to ruin your dress if you keep pacing like that." Rona frowned.

"I'm sorry," Raven breathed. "I'm just—"

"Nervous, we know, this is the fifteenth time you've said it," Lia muttered. She had completely healed just yesterday and was glad to be back up on her feet, even if she was in shoes she detested. The silver strappy heels she adorned along with the strapless wine red knee-length bridesmaid dress were not her idea of comfortable, but she silently endured it for Raven's sake. She was the maid of honor after all.

Lia, don't be so mean to Raven. What if it was your wedding day? You'd be nervous too. Lia stared at the Shadow clinging to her shoulder. After she had healed, James and Mattie had given her present: a Shadow of her own that bonded with her. Her name was Kilea, and she looked a lot like Mattie, being his "daughter"(1), with her wide, innocent eyes and her small stature. But she was actually as innocent as she appeared unlike Mattie.

Lia sighed, "Sorry for being snappy, Raven. I guess the pressure's getting to us all."

"It's alright. You're absolutely right anyway, I am nervous." Raven sighed and looked in the mirror again, surprised once again that the woman in the mirror was her. They say that when a woman is about to get married or is pregnant, she glows, and boy did she! The dress, which was not the traditional white but a creamy, light golden color to match with the wine red, was flowing and not tight at all, due to her pregnancy. It was strapless, with a wine red bow tied under her chest, but the silk skirt flowed over her belly softly like a waterfall, showing that Raven was carrying a child and not shy to hide it. Raven smiled as she rubbed her belly. It was becoming a habit, and she wondered faintly what she would do once the baby was born, but she couldn't help but find herself in awe as she was reminded that she was carrying a tiny life inside of her. Ah, motherhood.

Just when it seemed her nerves were calmed, James stuck his head into the room and announced, "It's almost time." Immediately Raven went into a panic again and the women tried to calm her down.

"Just breathe, Raven, you'll be fine," Rona kissed Raven's forehead in a motherly way and smiled at Raven. "I'm so happy for you dear."

Raven smiled back at Rona, "Thank you, Rona." The poor woman almost looked on the verge of tears with those words. She just shook her head in a laughing manner afterwards and quickly left the room to take her seat beside Vincent.

Lia tried to keep Raven relaxed after that. "Don't worry, Raven. Soon this will all be over and you'll be married to the man of your dreams with a little baby in your arms." Lia smiled as she fixed Raven's veil real quick.

"Lia, we're lining up," Starfire informed them as she took Nightwing's—one of Ryan's groomsmen—arm in her own.

"Alright, you ready, Raven?" Lia asked one last time, Raven's hands clasped in her own. Raven nodded, her senses tingling as her emotions went crazy in her head.

Raven started to count off in her head as she faintly heard the music and watched as one by one the pair of bridesmaids and groomsmen, which wasn't much just Starfire and Nightwing and Hannah and her new love interest, David. Hannah had come to Raven and apologized for everything after Riley's funeral, and she seemed a changed woman, which Raven suspected was because of Riley's death and the appearance of David.

Raven was suddenly brought out of her thoughts as she realized Lia was leaving already. She would soon follow. After taking in a deep breath and letting it out, Raven stepped out of the hallway and onto the aisle. The moment she saw Ryan standing at the end of the aisle with a smile on her face, it took all she had to not run down the aisle and into his arms.

The music seemed slow suddenly and she wished it were faster as she took each step with the goal of reaching Ryan in mind.

Finally, after what seemed like hours but were actually mere seconds, Raven reached Ryan. He took her hand in his, giving it a loving squeeze as they smiled at each other then faced the pastor. The pastor's words didn't even register in Raven's head, and she faintly worried she wouldn't say "I do" at the right time. But as she stared into Ryan's eyes, which looked so happy, the worry started to ebb away.

"I do," Ryan said, snapping Raven out of her dazed state to hear the pastor ask her if she would eternally love Ryan or something of the sort.

"I do," Raven said firmly, their eyes never breaking away from each other.

"Then by the power invested in me by the City of Jump(2), I now pronounce you man and wife. You may kiss your bride."

Ryan smiled more widely then, softly grabbing Raven's face and leaning down, planting a soft and gentle kiss on her lips. The crowd cheered, throwing up confetti, celebrating the new couple. But Raven didn't pay attention to anyone, she was too busy absorbed in Ryan's sweet and passionate kisses.

-X-x-X-

_**Epilogue: Just Perfect**_

**April 17, 2020**(3)

Ryan paced back and forth worriedly as he waited outside of the delivery room. He had been in there before Dr. Mathewson ordered him out after Raven screamed and threatened to cut off his…ahem, anyway, Dr. Mathewson believed he was a distraction to Raven's concentration.

His family, along with Hannah, Lia, James, and the Titans, waited patiently in the waiting room for the news.

"I'm so glad I'm not empathic," Lia said as she winced at a screech that had come from the delivery room. She wasn't sure if it was Raven, but it had sounded painful.

Lucky you, Mattie sarcastically snorted as he and Kilea winced. They, of course, knew everything that was happening in the delivery room.

After a few more minutes of Ryan pacing, the doors to the delivery room opened and Dr. Mathewson stepped out. She smiled towards everyone and announced, "A healthy baby boy."

Although they had known the gender ahead of time, everyone couldn't help but be excited by this news. Everyone rushed to congratulate Ryan before Dr. Mathewson whisked him away to the room Raven was staying in.

When Ryan stepped through the doors, Raven was lying on the bed with a bundle in her arms. She cooed to it and held out her fingers, little fingers peeping out form the bundle and grabbing onto her fingers. She looked up and spotted Ryan and smiled, "Want to come see your son?"

Those magical words brought Ryan forward as he stopped to stand next to Raven, peering down at the face in the bundle. The baby turned to look at Ryan, his baby blue eyes with speckles of purple here and there staring at him. Ryan broke out into a huge smile then, the baby following suit and laughing as he reached out towards his father. Ryan offered him his finger and the baby gripped it, laughing and comprehending that this was his father.

"Have you thought of any names?" Raven asked as she looked at Ryan.

"Yeah…" Ryan said quietly, smiling at Raven. "What do you think of Ayden Riley Xander(4)?"

"Ayden Riley Xander," Raven repeated as she tested it out on her lips. She smiled, "It's perfect." Ravenlooked down at their son lovingly. "Everything is just perfect."

Ryan smiled as he looked at Raven. She turned to look at him questionably, but Ryan just leaned down and kissed her. When he pulled away, loving the blush on Raven's cheeks, he agreed, "Yes, everything is just perfect."

Raven smiled, moving up to kiss Ryan once again.

**xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

**I was debating whether to make this the last chap or the epilogue the last one, but since the epilogue is so short anyway, I stuck it on the end of here instead. I was also going to update later...but I fear I might become busy soon and end up waiting till much later to post this so I just decided to post it now. :)**

**Anyways, this is the end of ****Baby, Be Mine**.** :( So thank you SO MUCH (really, I can't exactly even say how grateful I am) to everyone who read and reviewed this story! You guys are the greatest and thank you so much for reading it despite that I lagged on updating at times! THANK YOU!!! :D I love you all!**

**And a BIG, HUGE, ENORMOUS, [Insert other adjective that means "large" here], thanks to Ivy, of course, who is the coolest and most awesomest (Yes, it's a word according to me :P) twin ever! She's the one that brought about this story and I thank her for dealing with my evilness, writer's blocks, and spazz/rant out sessions. You rock, Ivy! :D**

**Ah, but again I say (well, I always say this in real life): WHY DO ALL THE LOVABLE, FUNNY CHARACTERS HAVE TO DIE IN THE END? T__T (Like in SAW, they kill off the funny guy who risks his life to save the doctor instead of the cheating doctor!) Ahem, but anyway, I feel sad that Riley had to die (he was one of my favorite characters next to Ryan) but his death was needed to transform Hannah. :( I know, why didn't I just kill her instead? I'm not sure myself, but I felt like it'd be more powerful if Riley died to teach Hannah the true meaning of love. Sacrifices must be made! TT___TT (I'm sorry Riley, I swear I loved you as a one of my OCs!)**

**Among other things, I have planned (and actually have started already) a SEQUEL to this story! I will not spoil it for you guys, but I will say the story will focus on Ryan and Raven's son, Ayden! And you will see characters from this story in that story [whether it be a short mention or a full on appearance] and many new characters as well! So look forward to that! It will be called "****Maybe It's Fate****".**

**Anyway, thanks again for reading and reviewing everyone! :D Till next time!**

**Ciao,**

**Xaleria **

(1) I thought of explaining this in the story, but found it hard to stick it somewhere so I will just explain it. Kilea is technically Mattie's daughter, but Shadows don't give live births or lay eggs. They are more like cells and divide themselves to make a new Shadow. And thus Kilea was born! :D And although Mattie is bonded with James, Kilea is not because although Kilea is literally a part of Mattie, she is still an independent Shadow who can choose who she bonds with (in this case, Lia).

(2) It's actually supposed to be "by the power invested in me by the state of [insert state]" or something like that but since I wasn't sure I just put Jump City! :D

(3) Ahem, as you can see, they are clearly in the future but the way I write sounds a lot like our time. I will say this now: I SUCK at futuristic settings. Every time I try to write them, I somehow fall back in making the setting the present. So let's all pretend that the setting is futuristic along with any of my other stories placed in the future. xD

(4) Remember how I said his name ties in with his powers? Ayden [I pronounce it "A-den" kind of like "Adrian" but without the "r" sound] is a variation of the name "Aiden" which is a Gaelic name meaning "Little fire" (hence the fire powers!). Riley is his middle name and is there, of course, in honor of Ryan's late best friend Riley. When I was looking up names for the baby, this baby names website had "Ryan" in the top list of popular baby names and the name "Aiden" was right above it! I felt like it was fate, don't you? :)


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